Sent the 4/5 favourite, Courtly Choice tracked cover past the half and catapulted to a 1:49.2 victory in the $75,000 North America Cup Consolation at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Saturday, June 16.
Levis Day led the field by the quarter in :26.4 with When You Dance riding the pocket. Burning Midnight tipped wide rounding the first turn and brushed to control entering the backstretch. Summer Travel, sitting fourth, moved first over heading to the half while Burning Midnight paced unchallenged on the front through a :55.2 clip.
Summer Travel drew alongside Burning Midnight approaching the top of the stretch, with Levis Day sitting pocket and Courtly Choice towed into contention second over. Past three-quarters in 1:23, Courtly Choice rushed down the center of the course to take the lead as Babes Dig Me, from third over, rallied in between horses to take second while When You Dance found room to snag third.
Winning his third race in four starts this season and his fifth in 16 overall, Courtly Choice, a colt by Art Major out of the Camtastic mare Lady Ashlee Ann, has accrued $124,295 in earnings for owners Hutt Racing Stable, Mac And Heim Stables, Daniel Plouffe and Touch Stone Farms. James MacDonald was in the bike for trainer Blake MacIntosh and paid $3.90 to win.
The N.A. Cup Consolation was part of a stakes-packed card of harness racing at Woodbine Mohawk Park on 2018 Pepsi North America Cup night. Check out the rest of the recaps in the 2018 North America Cup News Centre.