Two-time O'Brien Award winner L A Delight started her quest for a three-peat on Tuesday (July 4) at Mohawk Racetrack with her first qualifying mile of 2017.
With regular reinsman Randy Waples at the controls, L A Delight confidently strode to a wire-to-wire 1:54.2 score in her first four-year-old appearance. She finished off her mile with a :57 back half and :28.1 final panel.
L A Delight (Bettors Delight - West Of L A) is trained by Bob McIntosh, who co-owns with C S X Stables of Liberty Center,Ohio and Al McIntosh Holdings Inc of Leamington, Ont. Her career summary stands at 31-20-4-3 with nearly $1.5 million in purses.
"She's come back really good," McIntosh told Trot Insider. "I trained her before she qualified in 1:55.3, the last half in :55.1."
McIntosh noted that the track at Mohawk had recently been resurfaced and wasn't as fast as usual so the time of the mile surprised him but didn't concern him. L A Delight came out of the mile in good shape and she'll qualify a second time before a possible appearance in the Fillies & Mares Open at Mohawk. McIntosh told Trot Insider he'll be looking for a mile in the 1:51-52 range next time out.
Mohawk's 11-race qualifying slate also featured a quartet of tests strictly for two-year-olds. On the pacing side, Oxford Comma was the most proper and punctual. The daughter of Sportswriter-Demotta Bing was on top through every call en route to a 1:57.1 score for driver Robert Shepherd, trainer Isabelle Darveau and owner Catheline Pelletier of Mirabel, Que.
Trotting filly Blonde Magic showed the talent that runs through her family is no fluke with a strong first-up and drawing-away 2:00.3 winning performance in her morning outing. The Muscle Massive - Ally Oop filly is a half-sister to 2016 O'Brien Award finalist Seven And Seven. Tom Durand trains for owner-wife June Durand.
For the full results from Tuesday morning's qualifiers, click the following link: Tuesday Qualifiers - Mohawk Racetrack.