Woodbine Mohawk Park hosted eight qualifying races on Tuesday morning (July 19) with a pair of O'Brien Award winners headlining the session.
An O'Brien Award-winning two-year-old last year, Betterhavemymoney opened the morning session with the second straight qualifying win of his sophomore season for trainer Nick Gallucci.
James MacDonald floated the Millar Farms homebred away into fourth from the outside six slot as the early action on the front end settled. After fractions of :28.2 and :57.3, MacDonald sent Betterhavemymoney after his stablemate Aviator, who moved to the front for Trevor Henry on the way to three-quarters in 1:25.2. Coming off the final turn, Betterhavemymoney pulled away from his barn buddy, winning by three lengths in 1:54.1 with a :28.4 final frame. Ontop Rainman finished second over Aviator for Michael and Walter Whelan.
The connections of the Betterthancheddar gelding are targeting the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold on August 7 at Georgian Downs for his first stakes engagement of the season.
Former O'Brien Award-winning trotter Run Director later romped to a 14-length score in 1:55 flat with Sylvain Filion along for the ride. Trained by Shane Weber for Thomas Rankin and Elizabeth Rankin, the seven-year-old homebred son of Kadabra with nearly $670,000 banked lifetime was making his third qualifying start this year on the comeback trail after a short but perfect three-race season in 2021. Locatelli and Ufton Abby Hanover rounded out the top three finishers.
Among the two-year-old winners, trainer Shawn Steacy sent out a pair of pacing fillies including Sylvia Hanover (Always B Miki-Shyaway), who scored for the second week in a row, closing out her 1:56.2 mile with a :28 final quarter, and Twin Delight (Bettors Delight-Twin B Cheeks), who made her second qualifying start a winning one with an 11-length score in 1:57.3.
To view Tuesday's complete harness racing results, click on the following link: Tuesday Results (Qualifiers) - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
A replay of the video stream from the qualifiers is available below.