The eliminations for the Canadian Breeders Championships have been drawn and will be contested this Friday and Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack.
The $100,000 (Est.) finals for the Canadian Breeders Championships, which are sponsored by Standardbred Canada and the Woodbine Entertainment Group, will be contested Saturday, July 19 at the Campbellville, Ont. oval.
The eliminations for the three-year-old trotters will take place on Friday. Three filly divisions have been drawn to go along with a pair of divisions for the colts and geldings. Eliminations for the three-year-old pacers are on Mohawk’s Saturday docket, with three splits for fillies and two splits for colts and geldings on the program. First-race post time for each card of racing is 7:25 p.m.
FRIDAY
Three-Year-Old Trotting Fillies
Elimination 1 (Race 1)
The Ben Baillargeon-trained and Mario Baillargeon-driven White Becomes Her has been installed as the 7-5 morning line favourite. The daughter of Angus Hall has finished on the board in all of her six starts this season and has notched three victories to go along with three third-place finishes. The bay is coming into the elimination of off a pair of wins in $105,000 Ontario Sires Stakes events at Mohawk Racetrack. All of the filly’s races this year have been at Mohawk, and the lass’ last win was an open-length score at odds of 4-1. She has drawn Post 3 in the eight-horse field and she is the slight morning line choice over Muscle Babe. Trained by David Menary and driven by James MacDonald, Muscle Babe has drawn Post 5 and is 8-5 on the morning line. After five starts this season, the Muscle Mass bay boasts a record of 3-1-0. She finished second in her last test at Mohawk, but was victorious in 1:53.3 two starts back in a $105,000 OSS event over the Mohawk strip. O’Brien Award winner Riveting Rosie has drawn Post 4 for trainer John Bax and driver Paul MacDonell and has been listed at odds of 6-1 on the morning line.
Three-Year-Old Trotting Fillies
Elimination 2 (Race 5)
Angus Hall lass Wonderland Snow has been installed as the 7-2 morning line choice in what appears to be a contentious second elimination for the three-year-old trotting fillies. The Ron Parsons trainee has already made 15 starts this year and sports a record of 2-1-3. The brown filly’s last win came on June 12 at Mohawk when she advanced from the backfield and eventually got up for a quarter-length win in a life’s best 1:56.4 for driver Trevor Henry. Wonderland Snow will start from Post 6 in the nine-horse elimination. Please Okay is the second choice on the morning line at odds of 4-1. The daughter of Federal Flew will start from Post 5 for trainer Rob Fellows and driver Sylvain Filion. She has made five starts in the state of Delaware so far this season and will looking to improve off a nose loss at Grand River Raceway earlier this month. Aphrodity, who has drawn Post 9, has been installed as the 9-2 third choice on the morning line. The Rick Zeron-trained and driven Striking Sahbra bay is coming into the event off a 1:59.1 OSS Grassroots win at Grand River Raceway on July 2.
Three-Year-Old Trotting Fillies
Elimination 3 (Race 7)
Margie, an Angus Hall filly trained by Mike Keeling and driven by Sylvain Filion has been pegged as the 5-2 morning line choice for the eight-horse third filly elimination. The bay has only missed the board once in six seasonal starts and has recorded three wins. She last raced on July 3 at Mohawk where she trotted to a two-length victory in 1:56.1 during a $105,000 OSS event. She lowered her career mark to 1:55.2 earlier this year at Vernon Downs. Margie will start from Post 5 on Friday. Post 6 starter Danica has been assessed as the 3-1 second morning line choice for trainer Dustin Jones and driver Chris Christoforou. The daughter of Deweycheatumnhowe has finished second in all of her five starts this season. She was scheduled to race last week at Mohawk, but was a vet’s scratch ‘sick’ out of her scheduled $105,000 OSS tilt. Kadabra filly Mayberry is the 4-1 third morning line choice and will start from Post 7 for trainer/driver Rick Zeron. She has yet to hit the wire first in her four starts this season, but will be looking to break the trend on Friday.
Three-Year-Old Trotting Colts & Geldings
Elimination 1 (Race 6)
Kadabra colt Jitterbug has been made the 5-2 morning line choice in the first elimination for the three-year-old trotting colts and geldings. The Marcel Barrieau-trained bay will be driven by Sylvain Filion and will be entering Friday’s action off a two-race win streak. The colt has made three starts so far this year and his only miscue happened on May 26 when he finished third in a non-winners of two races event at Mohawk. He last raced over the Campbellville strip on June 24 and notched the win at odds of 7-1. The second choice (5-1) on the morning line is the Tony O’Sullivan-trained and Jody Jamieson-driven Justcallmeronald. The gelded son of Muscle Mass has won once in eight tries so far this year and will be looking to rebound from an overland trip around the Mohawk course on June 24. Kadabra gelding Ole Jack Magic is the 6-1 third morning line choice. The Jerry Duford-trained and Chris Christoforou-driven bay has hit the board in four of his six seasonal starts, including two wins.
Three-Year-Old Trotting Colts & Geldings
Elimination 2 (Race 9)
Harper Blue Chip, who has contested the Earl Beal Trot and the Goodtimes Trot heading into Friday, has been installed as the 9-5 morning line choice for the second elimination for the three-year-old male trotters. Even though he finished fourth in the Beal on June 28, the son of Majestic Son was individually clocked in 1:51.3. He will be looking to overcome Post 9 on Friday for trainer Mark Steacy and driver Sylvain Filion. Trainer Chris Beaver and driver Tim Tetrick will hook up with See The Wind in the tilt. The duo has been gauged as the 4-1 second morning line choice. The Deweycheatumnhowe colt will be looking to improve on his June 24 OSS race at Mohawk where he was caught late in the mile and had to settle for second in a 1:56.2 mile. Trainer Ben Baillargeon and driver Mario Baillargeon will hook up in the dash with Muscle Mass bay Muscle Matters. The colt was also caught late in his last race and had to settle for second in a 1:56.4 mile.
To view the harness racing entries for Friday at Mohawk, click the following link: Friday Entries – Mohawk Racetrack.
SATURDAY
Three-Year-Old Pacing Fillies
Elimination 1 (Race 2)
Brookdale Shadow proved two starts back that she can handle some speed at Mohawk. In the tilt, which came on June 27 in the Town Pro Series, the daughter of Shadow Play held on for a half-length victory in 1:51.4. Trainer Dr. Ian Moore has listed Randy Waples to be at the lines of the bay, who has drawn Post 6 in the seven-horse elimination. She will be looking to forget about her break in the series final on July 4 that she did not recover from. The David Menary-trained Goldies Mach has also drawn into the first elimination and will start from Post 1. Menary has listed Jody Jamieson to drive. The Mach Three filly has missed the board just twice from six starts this season and has paced to a pair of victories over Mohawk. She is also coming into Saturday’s race off a sub-par line which saw the lass finish well back in a conditioned event at Mohawk on July 4.
Three-Year-Old Pacing Fillies
Elimination 2 (Race 3)
Alibi Seelster will be looking to record her fifth seasonal win from what will be her eighth start on Saturday. The daughter of Shadow Play has only missed the board once this season for the trainer/driver combination of Jack Darling and Paul MacDonell. The bay did falter in her last race, as she gave up the lead in the stretch and finished fourth, beaten just one and a quarter lengths in a 1:53.1 mile. Alibi Seelster will start from Post 5 in the eight-horse elimination. Trainer Tony O’Sullivan has listed Jody Jamieson to drive Sudoku, a Badlands Hanover filly that was victorious in her only pari-mutuel start of the season. The filly won a $105,000 OSS event at Mohawk in 1:53.3 on June 23 and is heading into Saturday’s test off a bit of a layoff.
Three-Year-Old Pacing Fillies
Elimination 3 (Race 5)
Sectionline Aqua has won five of her 10 starts this season and will be looking to get back on track Saturday in her elimination. The daughter of Major In Art has found the going a little bit tougher since shipping up to the Woodbine Entertainment Group circuit from the United States. The filly has hit the board in her two starts over Mohawk this year, but will be looking for a bigger piece of the pie Saturday from Post 2. Trainer Steve Bauder has listed Mike Saftic to perform the driving duties. The Gregg McNair-trained Lady Shadow has drawn Post 6 in the eight-horse elimination. The daughter of Shadow Play has won two of her five starts this year. She lowered her mark to 1:51.4 at Mohawk on May 31 while winning the SBOA Stakes. Rick Zeron has been listed to drive.
Three-Year-Old Pacing Colts & Geldings
Elimination 1 (Race 7)
Boomboom Ballykeel has drawn Post 3 in the 10-horse opening elimination for three-year-old male pacers. On June 28, the son of Mach Three rebounded from his poor showing in the North America Cup by pacing to a 1:50.3 win during an OSS event at Mohawk. The 2013 Metro Pace winner is trained by Richard Moreau, who has listed Jonathan Drury to steer the winner of $465,000 on Saturday. Victor Bayama has drawn Post 8 for trainer Stephane Larocque. The son of Mach Three has made one pari-mutuel start this season, which came on June 28 at Mohawk. The colt went to the front early in the race and paced to an open-length victory in 1:50.3. Larocque has listed Sylvain Filion to drive.
Three-Year-Old Pacing Colts & Geldings
Elimination 2 (Race 9)
Speckled Door has drawn Post 3 in the nine-horse second elimination for the male pacers. Trainer Gregg McNair has listed Phil Hudon to be at the lines of the Mach Three gelding. The bay has had a knack for the wire this year, having recorded six wins from 13 starts. He lowered his mark to 1:51.2 earlier this year at Woodbine Racetrack. He is coming into the tilt off a pair of narrow defeats at Mohawk. The Tony Montini-trained Prince Clyde has shown he can get the job done at Mohawk this year. He had back to back wins in 1:51 and change in June before being narrowly defeated on Canada Day. The Camluck gelding will start from Post 7 and Montini has listed James MacDonald to perform the driving duties.
To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at Mohawk, click the following link: Saturday Entries – Mohawk Racetrack.