With nearly two dozen two-year-olds in action, Blake MacIntosh was poised for a big morning during the first full session of baby races on Saturday, June 8 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Rookies from the MacIntosh stable tallied six victories and 13 top-three finishes during the 14-dash session.
Swiftest of the six MacIntosh winners was Sterling Choice, whose 1:58.1 win time matched the fastest of the morning. Syvlain Filion guided the son of Betterthancheddar - Platinum Choice through gradually-increased fractions of :31.0, 1:01.2 and 1:30.2 before a :27.4 closer sealed the deal over Power Code (Jody Jamieson) by three parts of a length.
Owned by MacIntosh along with :Ozzie and Tammy MacKay and Gilles Landry, Platinum Choice is a roan colt that hails from the family of the great Admirals Express. Bred by Winbak Farm, he was a $15,000 Harrisburg purchase.
To complete his sextet of successes, MacIntosh also sent out trotting colts Darkness Cooks (Jamieson, 2:01.1) and Gravenhurst (Filion, 2:03.1), trotting fillies Medley Seelster (Tyler Borth, 2:05.3) and Monalishi (Jamieson, 2:02.1), and pacing colt Take Out Hanover (Filion, 1:59.2) to conclude the session.
Saddlebags wasn't asked by driver James MacDonald until the final quarter of her mile, but the filly responded positively when shown racetrack in the stretch. After sitting fourth behind pacesetter Moms Point (Bob McClure), Saddlebags paced home in :28 to debut a winner in 1:58.1 and equal the fastest mile time of the morning. Stylish Stella (Borth) was a 1-1/2 lengths back of the leader in second.
David Menary trains and (as Menary Racing) co-owns Saddlebags (Control The Moment - Twin B Virtue) along with Larry Menary, Ryan Morefield and Denise Guerriero. The filly, bred by Princeton Farms, was a $25,000 London Classic buy.
The fastest trotting mile of the morning came courtesy Macthenight, one of the more experienced two-year-olds of the session. Finishing a solid second on June 1, Macthenight returned for his second mile during the Saturday session and improved on that finish position. After tracking MacIntosh pupil Go Ahead Makemyday (Filion) through panels of :30.4, 1:01 and 1:31, Tyler Jones right-lined Macthenight at the head of the lane and these two rookies trotted as a tandem toward the wire. Macthenight edged past late to win by a head in 2:00.2.
A $6,000 London Classic acquisition from the Winbak consignment, Macthenight (Trixton-Mackenzie Hall) is owned by trainer Chad Hill of Hagersville, Ont. along with Kimberly Jensen.
Two-year-old qualifiers at Mohawk resume next week, with sessions slated for Thursday, June 14 and Friday, June 15.
All 14 of the qualifiers are available in the replay below.
For results from the qualifying session, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).
(Standardbred Canada)
Qualifiers
Trotters especially sharp today