Harness racing's future stars invaded Mohawk Racetrack in Campbellville, Ont. and The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey for a full slate of qualifiers on Saturday morning.
The fastest winner of the day at Mohawk was two-year-old pacing colt Falcon Justice, who qualified in 1:56.2 in the 13th dash. The gelding from the first crop of Ontario sire Mister Big, out of Jett Diamond, carved out fractions of :29.4, :58.4 and 1:27.3 while building up a seven length lead on the field before cruising home in :28.4 to win by a final margin of three and a quarter lengths. Paul MacDonell was in the sulky for Cambridge, Ont. trainer Rod Boyd, who shares ownership with Dan Christiano Cox of Toronto.
Fed X opened the card with the fastest colt trotting mile of the morning with a 2:02.3 off-the-pace victory for trainer/driver Pat Hudon. The homebred son of Federal Flex out of Chelemark Candy sat fifth through the early fractions before sprinting home for the two and a half length victory. Fed X is co-owned by Robert Little of Rockwood, Ont. and Paul Sabourin of Mississauga, Ont.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob McIntosh sent out a pair of winning homebred colts during the session. On Golden Ponder, sired by Ponder and out of the third foal of Ontario Sires Stakes champion mare In Trepid Water, sat third for most of the mile before coming home in :27.3 to win his qualifier in 1:58.2. Randy Waples worked out a similar trip for Rather Swell (Western Maverick-Breathtacular), who closed from third in :28-seconds to stop the clock in 1:58.4.
Waples also drove a pair of winning two-year-old pacing colts for trainer David Menary. Bringhome Theblue (Badlands Hanover-Coed Blues) scored a 2:02.2 triumph off a two-hole trip while Italian Rebel (Badlands Hanover-Modelaag), half-brother to $500,000-plus earner McCabe Hall, front-stepped his way to a 1:58.4 victory with a :27.4 final frame.
Soon-to-be Hall of Fame trainer Carl Jamieson sent out back-to-back qualifying winners in pacing filly Bahama Blue and trotting filly Erin Hall. Bahama Blue, sired by Somebeachsomewhere out of the $800,000-earner Isabella Blue Chip, rallied three-wide from the backfield at the third quarter mark and kicked home in :27.4 to prevail by a quarter length in 1:59.1 over Somebaysomewhere for Jamieson and co-owners David Shea of Campbellville, Ont., Toronto's Thomas Kyron and England's George Harrison. Erin Hall (Deweycheatumnhowe-El Mistress Chesea) inherited the lead past the halfway point when the leaders broke stride and cruised to a 2:05 score in her event, holding off Martini Master by a quarter length.
Pretty Hot (No Pan Intended-Pretty Thing) tied Bahama Blue's 1:59.1 fastest pacing filly mile of the day after rallying home from fifth in :27.2 to prevail by a neck for driver Billy Davis Jr. and trainer Shawn Robinson. She is owned by 648885 Ontario Limited of Caledonia, Ont.
Trainer Bjorn Noren also doubled up with pacing filly Blixtra (Rocknroll Hanover-Breathe), a half-sister to $350,000-earner Wind Me Up, converting from the pocket to win her qualifying assignment in 2:00.2 and homebred trotting gelding Hope For Justice (Windsong Espoir-Truth And Justice) advancing first over from fourth en route to a four and a half length victory in 2:04.4.
Luc Ouellette drove both Noren trainees along with pacing colt Blacktree (Dali-Kiss Me Cam), who converted from the pocket to win his qualifier by a head in 1:56.4 with his final quarter clocked in :27.2 for trainer Fredrik Persson.
Cantabs Fortune (Cantab Hall-Incredible Fortuna) posted the fastest mile for a trotting filly as she romped to an 11-3/4 length victory in 2:00.4 for trainer/driver Rick Zeron. She is owned by the Rick Zeron Stables of Oakville, Ont., Paul Marion of Marionville, Ont. and Ferme Rico Limitee of Vars, Ont.
Other Mohawk qualifying winners included pacing filly Torches Star (Angus Hall-Torch) in 2:03.3 for driver Tom Strauss and trainer Ben Wallace; homebred trotting colt Oh Charlie (Ken Warkentin-Sos Respect) in 2:02.4 with Sylvain Filion aboard for trainer Raymond Duval; and homebred trotting colt Alerthemedia (Cornaro Dasolo-Names Agnes) in 2:06 for trainer/driver Eddie Green.
Waples closed out the session with another victory aboard homebred pacing filly Mind Over Matter, trained by Eric Adams. The daughter of Art Major and Serious Comfort, a career winner of close to $800,000 in purses, sat fifth early on before kicking home in :27.3 for the 2:00.1 triumph.
Trotters opened the day at the Meadowlands' qualifying session and a sharp Bob Key homebred colt named Jetta Liner from the first crop of Pennsylvania sire Lear Jetta, out of Sweet Pleasure, led all the way to win in 2:02 with a :28.2 final quarter for driver Tim Tetrick and trainer Paul Reid. Key later sent out a homebred Muscle Hill filly out of The Great Pacific named Pacific Winds K, who won posted the fastest trotting filly mile of the session. The Reid trainee followed along in the pocket through a 1:31.1 three-quarters and rolled by under her own power for Tetrick in 1:59.2.
The mating of 2009 Hambletonian winner Muscle Hill and 2008 Hambletonian Oaks winner Creamy Mimi resulted in a colt named King City, bred and owned by Marvin Katz of Toronto and Al Libfeld of Pickering, Ont. He won for Yannick Gingras in 2:02.2 with a :28.2 final frame after showing a quick turn of foot looping the short field between the three-eighth and five-eighth markers. Jonas Czernyson is the trainer.
Another mating of note was the breeding of Nicole Kraft to sire Ken Warkentin. This cross resulted in the small but mighty filly Love Detective, who scooted home in around :28-seconds to win race three in 2:02.3. Jimmy Takter trains and drove her for wife Christina and breeder Jan Hoibye.
The fifth race for was harness racing's first look at Cooler Schooner, the full sister to 2009 Hambletonian Oaks winner Broadway Schooner, and she was very impressive. The Fashion Farms homebred set all the numbers for her driver/trainer team of John and Jim Campbell, finishing her 2:00 mile with a :27.4 final quarter under restraint.
Musclesprinctonian is the result of breeder Jules Siegel mating his Oaks winner Broadway Schooner with Muscle Hill, who won the Hambletonian the very same year. In his first outing, the colt certainly looked the part of a blue-blood. Quietly sitting in behind the lead through casual fractions for Tetrick, he responded with a sub-:28 final quarter to edge past the game Great Society (Muscle Hill-Natashas Kiss) in 2:02.1. Siegel retains ownership under his nom de course of Fashion Farms. He is another graduate of the Jim Campbell Academy for young trotters.
Expressive Action made it two-for-two, moving forward off last week’s win with a solid 2:00 score with a sub-:28 final quarter for Brian Sears. John Grasso bred, owns and trains the son of Conway Hall out of Yettas Angel, who was the fastest colt winner on the trot.
Ray Schnittker won back-to-back qualifiers beginning with trotting colt The Lindy Treaty (Conway Hall-Peace A Pie), a full brother to multiple stakes winner and Pizza Dolce, from just off the pace in 2:02.1 with a :28-second final panel. The pacers took over from race nine and Schnittker drew first blood with a sharp filly named Hay Stacked (Art Major-Moniques Legacy), a full-sister to $500,000-earner Hay Goodlooking. Schnittker reserved her off the pace until past the half and then cut her loose to sprint by the leader and open up on the turn. She coasted in with a :27.2 end to a 1:57.4 mile.
Takter sent out another winner in Ali Blue (American Ideal-Mintjulep Bluechip), who led all the way with a :27 closing quarter to win the fastest pacing filly qualifier in 1:56.1 for Gingras. The $90,000 Harrisburg Sale yearling is owned by Christina Takter, Toronto's John and Jim Fielding and RAW Equine of Burlington, Ont.
Race 12 saw the pacing colt Bakersfield (American Ideal-Ride The Skies) grind up first over into a 1:31.3 three-quarters then close it out in :26.3 to take a 1:58.2 mark in his first try. It was the Gingras/Takter combo again, this time for Brittany Farms, Joe Sbrocco and John Fodera.
Trainer Joe Holloway won a pair of qualifiers beginning with pacing filly My Lady Day (Western Ideal-Economic Clout) driven out in a 1:56.3 first over try (with a :27.1 final quarter) for Corey Callahan. The full-sister to $500,000-plus earner Twist N Clout is owned by Val D’Or Farms. Roll The Dice Stable's homebred colt Always B Miki (Always A Virgin-Artstopper) followed up a victory last week with an impressive front-running 1:55 effort to post the fastest win time of the day at The Big M. He was tested by pocket-sitter Perspective (Art Official-See And Be Seen), but summoned a :26.4 final panel to prevail for Sears under minimal urging.
Maxi Bon, a $125,000 Harrisburg Sale yearling, had a successful debut for Tetrick, sprinting home in :26.3 to close out his 1:56.2 win. The Somebeachsomewhere colt out of $650,000-earner Knock Three Times is trained by Tony Alagna for Andray farms, Carver Stables, Joe Sbrocco and Eagles Soar Partners.
The 15th and final went to another Takter trainee, Tellitlikeitis, a Well Said first cropper out of millionairess Kikikatie. The half-brother to stakes winners Rockin Image, Time To Roll and Rockin Amadeus did his family proud, sitting in until the stretch and coasting by with a :28-second final quarter to score in 1:56.2 under restraint. Gingras drove for owner Lothlorien of Cheltenham, Ont.
To view Mohawk's complete qualifying results, click on the following link: Saturday Results (Qualifiers) - Mohawk Racetrack.
To view Meadowlands' complete qualifying results, click on the following link: Saturday Results (Qualifiers) - Meadowlands Racetrack.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)