Short prices landed in the pair of $30,000 eliminations for the William Wellwood Memorial on Saturday night, Aug. 17 at Woodbine Mohawk Park while both $30,000 eliminations for the Peaceful Way went by way of an upset.
Odds-on choice Tactical Dynasty muscled to a 1:53.4 victory in the first William Wellwood Memorial elimination.
“When I asked him in the middle of the last turn and no one was coming, he kicked into gear,” said winning driver Yannick Gingras after the race.
Gingras sent Tactical Dynasty out of post seven to race third by a :29 first quarter, but soon lifted the Tactical Landing-Dynasty colt off the pegs and brushed to the lead. He cleared to command before a :57.3 half and skedaddled from the competition, clicking past three-quarters in 1:25.4 and strolling under the beam a wrapped-up winner by five lengths. Extended Session (James MacDonald) broke stride chasing from the pocket and finished a lapped-on second, which disqualified him to fifth to still make the final. Lookatmegoamigo (Jody Jamieson), Maryland (Dexter Dunn) and Warrior (Ake Svanstedt) all moved up a finishing spot to be second, third and fourth, respectively.
“Once he’s in that gear, he’s pretty solid,” said Gingras. “He handled all the breakers and all that stuff. I really always liked him. He’s got that nice gait to him, he’s fast. I think we’ve got a nice colt on our hands.”
Ron Burke trains Tactical Dynasty for Burke Racing Stable, Phil Collura, Larry Karr, Jandt Silva and Purnel And Libby. The colt earned his second win from five starts and has now banked $83,973. Tactical Dynasty paid $3.50 to win.
Emoticon Legacy stayed unbeaten in just his second start on the track when collaring 1-5 favourite Nordic Catcher S in the final strides of a 1:56 mile in winning the second Wellwood elimination.
Driver James MacDonald floated Emoticon Legacy forward to race third as 13-1 shot Manforce (Jody Jamieson) attempted to steal the race. Clocking opening fractions of :28.3 and :59.1, Manforce soon bore pressure when Nordic Catcher S (Ake Svanstedt) flushed out of his pocket ride to sit first-up. Nordic Catcher S accelerated for the lead after three-quarters in 1:28.2 but stalled once downing Manforce in the lane. MacDonald, meanwhile, found room spinning off the turn to follow Nordic Catcher S’s move outside and then angled his charge off the helmet in the lane to inch closer and closer to the lead. In the final yards, Emoticon Legacy successfully reeled in Nordic Catcher S to win by a head. Manforce held third while Getastarfromthesky (Dexter Dunn) and Southwind Caspian (Paul MacDonell) earned the remaining slots to the final.
“He looks like a special colt, like he’s developing into everything Emoticon [Hanover] throws into them,” said MacDonald of Emoticon Legacy, a Walner colt out of champion mare Emoticon Hanover. “She’s a super broodmare, she was a super racehorse and this horse looks like he’s turning into a nice horse as well.”
Luc Blais trains Emoticon Legacy for owner/breeder Determination. The colt has banked $25,000 from his two victories. A $2 win ticket on Emoticon Legacy returned $8.70.
Royal Mission scored a mild upset at odds of 8-1 with a pocket pounce to victory in the first Peaceful Way elimination.
Launching from post seven, Royal Mission and driver Trevoy Henry secured a trail ride behind 8-5 second choice Monalishi (Jody Jamieson), who cut a tepid clip of :29.1, :58.2 and 1:27.1 before buckling down for the stretch sprint. In spite of the soft fractions, Monalishi failed to stave the late flurry from Royal Mission, who won edging away by 1-1/2 lengths in a 1:54.3 mile. R Charm (Bob McClure), odds-on favourite Lasting Dream (Chris Christoforou) and Highlandstarburst (Travis Cullen) earned the remaining berths to the final.
“We got cheap fractions. I didn’t know if we would outsprint them, but she did,” said Henry after the race. “She showed she can leave, so I thought I’d leave with her and let Jody go. That’s the way it worked out.”
Marcus Melander trains Royal Mission, a daughter of Chapter Seven out of Swinging Royalty and a full sister to Canadian Trotting Classic champions Ahundreddollarbill and Slay. Jeff Snyder owns the filly, who has now won two times from five starts and banked $199,966. She paid $19.10 to win.
Steady handling by Jody Jamieson on a bumpy stretch burst by R Dutchess straightened her to nail the winning blow at 13-1 over 3-5 favourite Champagne Problems in the second Peaceful Way elimination.
“[I] was pushing her too hard, and she was trying to give me everything she got. She overcame me there and kept trotting hard after that,” said Jamieson.
R Dutchess began her pursuit moving to a :57.4 half, where Champagne Problems (Dexter Dunn) circled from the pocket to take the lead into the final turn. Champagne Problems strode strongly by three-quarters in 1:25.3, though R Dutchess persisted in her rally and loomed to within a head of the lead spinning for home. The pair sparred down the lane – Champagne Problems steadfast to the pylons and R Dutchess resilient to smoothen bobbled strides into the final eighth. R Dutchess then clawed forward to grab a neck victory in a 1:53.1 mile over Champagne Problems with Margareta Hanover (Yannick Gingras) another six lengths behind in third. Medley Seelster (Bob McClure) and Entertain Me (Jonathan Drury) rounded out the top five.
“She’s just a little dumb, green and [has] too much ability for her own good at the moment,” said trainer John Butenschoen. “She’ll try to over-trot herself. She’s still a work in progress, but she’s progressing the right way.”
A daughter of Father Patrick out of 2018 Peaceful Way champion The Ice Dutchess, R Dutchess earned her second win from four starts and has now earned $26,016. She’s leased by M And L Of Delaware LLC. The filly paid $29.70 to win.
Each elimination winner from Saturday’s stakes action earned draw protection between posts two and six for their respective finals, which Woodbine Mohawk Park will host next Saturday, Aug. 24.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(With files from Woodbine; Woodbine race replay from second Wellwood elimination unavailable)