O'Brien Award winner Emoticon Legacy continued preparations for his comeback with another winning qualifier during a morning session that was postponed through a smokey weekend to Monday, July 20 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Qualifying for the second time since early May, the four-year-old trotter won the morning's fourth race in a 1:54.2 by 16 lengths with Bob McClure in the bike for trainer Luc Blais and owner Determination of Montreal, Que.
Emoticon Legacy got away third from the inside post as veteran trotter Amigo Mio (Brett MacDonald) took charge with sophomore colt Land The Plane (Jody Jamieson) getting the pocket spot. After a :29.4 opening panel, McClure made his move with Emoticon Legacy and kept charging three-wide when Land The Plane tried to get the jump on him. Land The Plane cleared to command but landed back in the deuce as Emotion Legacy quickly swept by before the :59.1 half. The millionaire stakes winner was shown open road and left the others behind, accelerating to three-quarters in 1:27, up by eight lengths, and then doubling that margin with a :27.2 sprint to the finish. Land The Plane finished back in second and another sophomore colt, Royal Captain (Dustin Jones), was third.
Among his potential targets, the Walner-Emoticon Hanover stallion is eligible to the Maple Leaf Trot later this summer at Mohawk.
Another O'Brien Award winner, three-year-old pacing filly A Clean Deal, tuned up with a 1:53.3 qualifying victory four weeks after her latest sub-1:50 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold triumph for driver Doug McNair and trainer Kyle Fellows, while the Nick Gallucci-trained OSS graduate Allstar Maniac was the fastest winner on the pace in his second qualifier to start his four-year-old season, capping off a 1:52.2 mile with a :26.3 final frame in rein to James MacDonald.
Nine races were reserved for two-year-olds with Slick Draw posting a slick score -- fastest among the pacers -- in 1:55.1 for trainer/driver Steve Hudon, who co-owns the Betterthancheddar-Katie Snoops colt with Laura Toscani of Mount Hope, Ont. Slick Draw tracked Twin B Louborghini (Bob McClure) in the pocket through panels of :29.4, :58.1 and 1:26.2 before out-sprinting the drifting pacesetter home in :28.2 to win by a neck. It was six lengths back to Ibelieveinmiracles (James MacDonald) in third. The winning colt, who was making his second qualifying start, was bred by Joseph and Karen Hudon.
Tymal Eclipse was the fastest baby trotter, debuting in 1:59 flat for the father and son, training and driving team of Bob and Scott Young. The filly followed along in fourth place as the opening panels went in :28.2 and :59.2 then advanced through three-quarters in 1:29 chasing runaway leader Elegant Green (Louis-Philippe Roy) before inheriting the lead when that one broke stride in the lane. Tymal Eclipse was all alone on top, finishing her mile in :28.2 and 11 lengths ahead of Highland Firen Ice (James MacDonald) and Kings Lady (Mark MacDonald). Bred by Tymal Farms, the Green Manalishi S-Electrapedia filly was a $37,000 yearling purchase from the London Classic Sale by Ottawavalleyracingstable5 of Dunrobin, Ont.
To view Monday's complete qualifying results, click the following link: Monday Results (Qualifiers) - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
A replay of the full qualifying session is available below.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Emoticon Legacy winning an elimination of the 2025 Hambletonian)