The eliminations for the Canadian Breeders Championships kicked off on Friday night at Mohawk Racetrack with the trotters facing off first.
Sent postward as the heavy favourites in the $23,531 eliminations for the three-year-old fillies, Angies Lucky Star and Motown Muscle delivered on their pari-mutuel promises with a pair of dominant back-to-back victories early on the card.
Angies Lucky Star romped to a 1:55.2 open length victory in her elimination for driver Sylvain Filion and trainer Richard Moreau, paying $2.30 to win.
Filion sent Angies Lucky Star to the lead from post seven during a :27.1 opening panel and rated middle fractions of :58 and 1:27.1 en route to the three length victory. Seeuinthespring (Anthony MacDonald) came from last to place with Choir Robe (Rick Zeron) finishing third off a three-hole trip. Lady Bling (Scott Young) and Princess Lilly (Mario Baillargeon) rounded out the top five finishers that will advance to next week's final.
The daughter of Angus Hall has won half of her eight starts this year while banking over $200,000 in purse earnings for Ontario owners Trevor Henry Stables Inc. of Arthur and the Parkhill-based Estate of Daniel J. McCann.
Ben Baillargeon trainee Motown Muscle made her winning move during the second panel and cruised home for a career-best 1:53.4 triumph with Mario Baillargeon in the sulky for his brother.
After getting away third through a :27.4 opening quarter, Baillargeon sent the daughter of Muscle Mass first over to take the lead as the field headed down the backstretch. Motown Muscle hit the half in :56.3 and three-quarters in 1:25.2 before holding off the late rally from second over Anaffairtoremember (Jack Moiseyev) in the stretch to win by one and a half lengths. Early leader Orderingin (Filion) finished third with first over Frisky Magic (Per Henriksen) and Juliet (Zeron) earning the last spots in the filly trot final.
Owned by Michigan's Bet Max Stables Inc. and Benenati Inc., Motown Muscle has won three of her seven races this year with top three finishes in her other starts for earnings of nearly $130,000.
She paid $3.10 to win.
The trotting eliminations wrapped up with a $45,390 event for the sophomore colts and it was another favourite, Murmur Hanover, who came out on top with a career-best 1:54.3 front end effort for driver Randy Waples and trainer Normand Bardier Jr.
Waples sent Murmur Hanover three-wide around early leader Enough About You (MacDonald) and eventual breaker Kinetic King (Roger Mayotte) after a :27-second opening panel. The Majestic Son colt cleared to command by the :56.2 half-mile mark and proceeded to the third quarter station in 1:26 with Creampuff Macdaddy (Moiseyev) and Gotta Secret (Filion) advancing first and second over. Murmur Hanover managed to keep Creampuff Macdaddy at bay during a stretch duel and held off the closing Gotta Secret for the half-length victory.
The top seven finishers in the elimination will advance to the final along with Toocool Forschool, Thankyoukessel and Rock Of Cashel, who all received byes. Finishing second through seventh were: Gotta Secret, Creampuff Macdaddy, Schoolhouse Rock (Trevor Ritchie), Just Make Believe (Scott Zeron), El Diablo Rojo (Baillargeon), and Enough About You.
The win was the first in three seasonal starts for Murmur Hanover, who earned over $400,000 during his freshman campaign for owner Richard Berthiaume of Pointe-Aux-Trembles, Que.
Murmur Hanover paid $3.90 to win.
The Canadian Breeders Championships, sponsored by Standardbred Canada and Woodbine Entertainment Group, are for three-year-old trotters and pacers that were sired by stallions duly nominated to the stakes event and are registered with Standardbred Canada or the United States Trotting Association.
The sophomore pacers will face off on Saturday night at Mohawk in their eliminations.
The fields for the trot finals will line up as follows. (The connections of the elimination winners were able to choose their post positions.)
$109,813 Three-Year-Old Filly Trot
1. Juliet
2. Motown Muscle
3. Angies Lucky Star
4. Seeuinthespring
5. Choir Robe
6. Lady Bling
7. Anaffairtoremember
8. Orderingin
9. Princess Lilley
10. Frisky Magic
AE1. Atalanta
$105,910 Three-Year-Old Colt Trot
1. Just Make Believe
2. Enough About You
3. Creampuff Macdaddy
4. Murmur Hanover
5. Schoolhouse Rock
6. Rock Of Cashel
7. Thankyoukessel
8. El Diablo Rojo
9. Gotta Secret
10. Toocool Forschool
AE1. Striker Ace
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.