After 13 dashes for two-year-old fillies were contested on Friday at Woodbine Mohawk Park, the Saturday session offered 11 dashes for the boys on a gorgeous summer morning with returning qualifiers showing the most speed among the sessions.
Vino Louie was a 1:59.3 winner one week ago under less than ideal conditions, and the rookie pacer showed that this week's setting was more to his liking. Driver Scott Young pointed Vino Louie to the top in his qualifier, reaching the opening quarter in :29.4. The duo carved out sensible middle fractions of :58.4 and 1:27.2 before accelerating through a :27.1 final panel to trip the timer in 1:54.3. Vino Louie was nearly five lengths better than Perfectboy Hanover (Doug McNair) with Beach Blogger third.
Vino Louie (Sportswriter - Wilma Hall) was a $30,000 London Selected Yearling Sale purchase of trainer Clare Bradshaw, who co-owns with Brian Jamieson of Simcoe, Ont.
Magnum Moon didn't get a chance to show what he's truly made of last week after suffering interference during his qualifier, but the son of Shadow Play had smoother sailing this week and impressed with his effort. Driver Jody Jamieson positioned Magnum Moon on top through a tepid :30.1 opening panel, then allowed Dietrich Seelster (Sylvain Filion) to loop to the lead from the pocket and carve out splits of :59.2 and 1:27.2. In the stretch, Jamieson right-lined Magnum Moon from the pocket and the colt responded to brush by and win by two lengths in 1:55.4. Dietrich Seelster held second while Great Somewhere (McNair) closed for third.
A $27,000 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale purchase, Magnum Moon is trained by Jim Wellwood, who co-owns with Jeff Wellwood of Toronto, Ont. and BC Reichheld Stables of Caledonia, Ont.
To view the full results from the Saturday qualifying session, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Baby Races).