Mohawk Racetrack hosted a compact five-race qualifying session on Friday morning under pristine conditions. A trio of upper echelon performers took to the Campbellville oval and recorded wins by large margins.
Strictly in terms of winning margin, the biggest victory of the morning came in Race 5 when Sunshine Beach, who was in rein to Chris Christoforou, motored off to a 23-length win in Race 5. The mile was clocked in 1:51.3 and the four-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere capped off his mile with a :25.2 final quarter. The morning effort was the second qualifying performance of the season for the career winner of $950,108 in purses.
One race prior, two-time O’Brien Award winner Mister Herbie made his 2014 charted debut by trotting to a dominant 15-length win for trainer Jeff Gillis and driver Steve Condren in 1:55.3. The millionaire son of Here Comes Herbie was trotting his first charted mile since having last raced at the Meadowlands Racetrack in late November.
Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship winner Somethinincredible also made her seasonal charted debut during the session (Race 3) and paced to an 11-length victory in 1:53.4 for driver Randy Waples and trainer Bob McIntosh. The three-year-old daughter of Ponder last raced November 30 in the Three Diamonds at Meadowlands.
Race 2 saw the Julie Walker-trained and Jean Renaud-driven Massive Muscles trot to a one and a quarter-length win in 1:59.2. The race also featured the 2014 charted debut of Muscle Matters, who captured his division of the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Finals last year at Mohawk. The son of Muscle Mass finished third in the mile and was individually timed in 1:59.4.
The Stephen Davis-trained and Sylvain Filion-driven Megatron kicked the session off with a blast in Race 1. The three-year-old son of Mach Three fired out from Post 2, shot to the lead and has his sights set on the wire. He hit his target first, freezing the clock in 1:54.4 one and a quarter lengths the best.
To view the harness racing results for the Friday qualifying session at Mohawk, click the following link: Friday Results – Mohawk Racetrack (Qualifier).