The first full card of two-year-old qualifiers at Woodbine Mohawk Park is now complete after a 14-race session on Friday (June 12) with a number of notable performances from the potential future stars of the sport.
Winds were a factor on Friday morning, confronting the horses down the homesretch. AGCO judges rated the track as good with a two-second variant applied.
The first three races on the card were the only dashes involving trotters. Of the three races, GW Chrome crossed the wire fastest of all after a wire-to-wire 2:02.2 score in the first for trainer-driver Anthony MacDonald. GW Chrome was five lengths better than strong-closing Muscle Jack (Chris Christoforou) and Shouldaknownbetter (Louis-Philippe Roy)
A $12,500 Blooded Horse Yearling Sale purchase, GW Chrome (Break The Bank K - ATM Money) is owned by Thestable Gw Chrome Group of Guelph, Ont.
On the pacing side, Twin B Heart Throb flashed the most speed with a wire-to-wire 1:57.3 effort for driver Sylvain Filion. She was nearly eight lengths better than his rivals in his first on-track appearance.
Trained by Wayne McGean, Twin B Heart Throb (Betterthancheddar - Twin B Intimate) was a $20,000 London Selected Yearling Sale purchase now owned by 3 Capers Stable of Sydney, N.S.
"He's slick-gaited and he can leave the gate pretty fast," said Filion during an interview during the COSA TV live broadcast. "I had a big hold of him leaving the gate, I didn't want him to get too excited...we had to cut it out, there wasn't much speed in there but he was really impressive. He doesn't seem like he goes fast when you sit behind him but he really does."
McGean was one of a number of trainers to send out a pair of winners during the morning session as he and Filion also teamed up to win the fourth qualifier with Between I N U in 2:01.
Also sending out a pair of winners on the morning were the following trainers:
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Anthony MacDonald; GQ Chrome (2:02.2) in Qualifier 1 and No Free Lunch (1:58.4) in Qualifier 9.
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Mario Baillargeon; Lincoln Hanover (2:04.1) in Qualifier 2 and Walkonthemoon (2:03.1) in Qualifier 3.
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Blake MacIntosh; Sports Dutchess (1:59.1) in Qualifier 10 and A Better Game (1:59.2) who survived a stretch-long slugfest with Alumni Seelster in Qualifier 14.
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Dr. Ian Moore; Lady Arthur (1:59.4) in Qualifier 12 and Andra Day (1:59) in Qualifier 13.
For the results from the Friday session of baby races, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Baby Races).
A replays of the Friday session is available below.