"You have to take the good with the bad in this business."
That's an often-repeated axiom, either directly or paraphrased in many areas — especially harness racing.
In this case, the quote came from trainer Dan Lagace during a recent conversation. The veteran horseman has unveiled some solid two-year-olds this season — including a pair of winners from the session on Monday, July 7 at Woodbine Mohawk Park — but with that comes the news of a former two-year-old star on the sidelines for the time being.
We'll start with the good. There were five dashes for two-year-olds during the qualifiers carded Monday at Mohawk, with Lagace pupils clocking the fastest times on both the trot and the pace from the rookie session.
Pacing colt D A Bodacious sat the pocket for Lagace and driver Trevor Henry, then delivered an uncovered back half in :56.3 for an in-hand 1:55.1 score. Phillys Stranger (Tyler Jones) was next best, just over three lengths back with Aura Blue Chip (Louis-Philippe Roy) completing the top trio.
Bill Donovan of Florida owns D A Bodacious, the sale topper from the first session of the 2024 London Classic Yearling Sale. The son of Cattlewash - Vivid Shine, bred by Ashley & Dean Wilson, was a $140,000 yearling purchase.
Lagace, Henry and Donovan then connected in the very next qualifier with trotting filly Believe. That daughter of Muscle Mass - I Believe made every call a winning one in her second appearance, a 2:01 score with more than two lengths to spare over Belle Boubou (Scott Young). Iamthat Special (Paul Walker) finished third.
Bred in Maryland by Wiesman Farms LLC, Believe was a $45,946 purchase from the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.
Add pacing colt Sweet Lovin Lou to the mix, and there's reason for Lagace to be optimistic about his two-year-old team. Unfortunately, the news isn't as positive for the star two-year-old from his Class of 2024 — O'Brien Award finalist You Got It Kemp, who suffered an injury after his initial three-year-old qualifier and will be sidelined indefinitely.
"After his qualifier he was not 100 per cent, so we got it checked," Lagace told Trot Insider, indicating the trotter sustained a high suspensory ligament injury. "He's had stall rest, and now has been in the field and swimming.
"I have no time frame on him; we will judge how it heals as we swim him. He will get all the time he needs."
A son of Muscle Mass - Speed Titan, You Got It Kemp banked $378,167 from five of his six rookie starts — winning his last five, culminating his freshman season with a lifetime best 1:53.4 score in the 2024 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Super Final. The trotter is owned by Lagace, children Brady and Brooke, along with breeder Suojalampi Stable Inc.
"We try not to think of it as a big blow," continued Lagace. "We are happy with what he has achieved — he went well beyond what we thought he would do buying him for $12,000 so we just think we were blessed to have the ride we did and we will see how the future goes with him."
The full video stream from Monday's qualifiers is available below.
For results from the qualifying session, click the following link: Monday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).
(Standardbred Canada)