Speed was on display early on the Pepsi North America Cup card on Saturday night, June 15 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, with some healthy payouts for bettors to boot.
In the $40,000 Open Trot, Gaines Hanover equalled the all-age trotting track and Canadian record with a 1:50.2 career-best performance in rein to driver Sylvain Filion. The Richard Moreau trainee, matching the records of stallion Alrajah One IT and mare Atlanta, also knocked one-fifth of a second off the records for an aged trotting gelding.
Seven top-notch square-gaiters lined up behind the gate, but bettors appeared to have anticipated a match race between 4-5 favourite Logan Park (Doug McNair) and 2-1 second choice Lexus Kody (Yannick Gingras). The race played out that way in its early stages. Logan Park needed almost all of the :26.2 opening quarter to clear Lexus Kody despite Gingras having a strong hold on the latter. Lexus Kody's sojourn in the pocket was short-lived as Gingras vacated the two-hole upon entering the backstretch, reaching the lead and clearing before the half in :54.2.
The outer flow began to develop at the five-eighths mile mark as Lexus Kody continued to lead the field, reaching three-quarters in 1:22.4. In the stretch, Gaines Hanover, who had been sitting fifth for much of the mile, brushed to the lead under Filion urging and picked up the pieces for a 1-1/2 length win.
Logan Park, who had held the aged gelding track and Canadian records, wound up second. Fashion Frenzie (Louis-Philippe Roy) was third. Lexus Kody faded to fifth as Osceola (Trevor Henry) came on to complete the superfecta behind the 7-1 upset winner. Gaines Hanover paid $17.10 to win.
Gaines Hanover has now won three of six starts this year. The victory was number 10 in the career of the four-year-old bay son of Cantab Hall and the Muscle Massive mare, Gatka Hanover. The Moreau pupil is owned by Gestion J Y Blais Inc. of Montreal, Que., and has a lifetime haul of $759,556.
In the $36,000 opener on the 13-race program, Andrew McCarthy steered Write Me A Rose to victory over eight Preferred pacing foes in a lifetime-best 1:49.4.
Write Me A Rose came away seventh as Wheels On Fire (Doug McNair) led the field to the quarter in :26. Soon after turning into the backstretch, McCarthy secured third-over cover for the four-year-old bay horse as Dragononthebeach (Tim Tetrick) brushed to the lead and reached the half in :54.3.
On the final turn, Dragononthebeach faced pressure from favourite Control Heaven (Dexter Dunn) as the three-quarter mark was reached in 1:22.3. As the field fanned out for the stretch drive, Write Me A Rose was shown clear track and passed rivals for a 1-1/4-length score. Poseidon Seelster (Bob McClure) was second and Emmetts Buddy (Tyler Borth) was third.
Write Me A Rose went off at 9-2 and paid $11.40 to win.
Write Me A Rose is a son of Sportswriter and the Bettors Delight mare, Caribbean Rose N. The Kyle Fellows trainee races for breeder Windermere Stable of New York, N.Y., and has now visited the winner's circle 11 times in his career. Five of those wins have come from 11 starts in 2024, with this score pushing the career earnings of Write Me A Rose to $456,328.
No one will forget Remember The Alamo any time soon. It was bombs away as Todd McCarthy piloted the Tony Alagna trainee to a 43-1 shocker by the narrowest of margins in the $75,000 Pepsi North America Cup Consolation. Remember The Alamo nipped Clever Cody (Sylvain Filion) on the wire, with Mirage Hanover (Tim Tetrick) third.
Clever Cody and Mirage Hanover both closed at 6-5, with the latter a slight favourite in the win pool. The two led the field in that order through at :26.2 opening quarter with Remember The Alamo getting away just behind them.
Positions were unchanged through a :55 half-mile. Remember The Alamo went first-over at five-eighths, having been flushed out by Its Saturday Night (Dexter Dunn). Clever Cody reached three-quarters in 1:22.4 and led the field into the stretch.
Clever Cody continued to lead through the stretch until the final strides. The photo confirmed that Remember The Alamo had succeeded in wearing down Clever Cody to win his first race in five tries this year and generate an $88 payout for a $2 win ticket. Mirage Hanover was third, just ahead of Its Saturday Night. The 1:49.1 clocking is a new lifetime mark for Remember The Alamo.
The three-year-old bay colt by Captaintreacherous out of the American Ideal mare, Ameraway, has now amassed $150,110 in career earnings. Marvin and Lynn Katz of Toronto, Ont., along with Riverview Racing LLC and Remember The Alamo Racing of Boynton Beach, Fla., own the winner of three out of 13 lifetime starts.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Standardbred Canada)
Last night's card
Even with the 3 trotting races, I think last night's card at Mohawk was the fastest overall race card in track history. 7 of the 13 races were won in sub-1:50, and the average winning time was 1:49.3.