Three-year-old trotting filly Drawn Impression plowed from mid-pack and lifted away from her peers to score in the aptly named $140,000 Casual Breeze Stakes during Friday night's Grand Circuit action at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Luc Blais trains Drawn Impression, a Muscle Hill filly out of a Casual Breeze champion in Emoticon Hanover, for owner/breeder Determination of Montreal, Que. He also trains runner-up Emoji Hanover, a Greenshoe sister to the winner's dam.
Emoji Hanover (Dexter Dunn) hustled out of post 10 to grab the lead from R Liza (Scott Zeron) by a :27.3 first quarter while driver Louis-Philippe Roy settled Drawn Impression out of post one into sixth. As Emoji Hanover slowed the tempo to a :57 half, Roy sent Drawn Impression uncovered out of sixth and then seized the lead entering the final turn. She strode by three-quarters in 1:25.2 and widened her lead down the stretch under a reclined hand drive to float over the finish line in 1:52.3, winning by 6-1/4 lengths. Emoji Hanover held off R Liza, zipping up the inside to take second, while R Liza’s rally helped her stave off Cool Ma Belle (Bob McClure) as she wove through traffic, but settled for fourth.
“I didn’t find any good cover to follow once we all settled into the first turn, so I rushed my move,” said Roy after the race. “But the filly’s just so good. Luc’s team had her really good, so I felt like she could overcome anything. It wasn’t the ideal trip, but she was so good she could deal with it anyway. When you sit behind her, she goes so fast and you don’t even realize; she has a very effortless gait. So that makes me think she might be very special, even more than she shows now.”
Drawn Impression earned her first win of the season in her fifth start and notched her fifth victory from 11 starts in her career, good for $429,844.
“She’s always been impressive,” said Roy. “She started a little later than every other filly, which was the plan with Luc because most of her stakes are later in the season and he wants to keep her sharp. In the short time she’s been racing, I felt like she didn’t have much luck. Tonight, she was able to show her talent.”
Sent off as the even-money favourite, Drawn Impression returned $4.30 to win.
In other Grand Circuit stakes action on Friday at Mohawk, Periculum soared over his competition while Logan Park moved up a placing via disqualification to win their respective $50,000 eliminations for the Maple Leaf Trot.
In the first elimination, Periculum vaulted from third-over and stuck the landing to a wrapped-up, open-length win in 1:51.2 for trainer Marcus Melander.
Odds-on favourite Southwind Tyrion (Ake Svanstedt) took command from Fashion Frenzie (Louis-Philippe Roy) past a :27.2 first quarter while driver Scott Zeron positioned Periculum into sixth, nestled behind Its Academic (David Miller). Hillexotic (Jody Jamieson), meanwhile, failed to find a seat at the pylons, forcing him to press forward against Southwind Tyrion and fan the flames into a :55 half.
Hillexotic maintained steady pressure on Southwind Tyrion through the final turn as Its Academic tipped from the pylons to catch the cover with Periculum in tow. Southwind Tyrion began to struggle in the fight passing three-quarters in 1:23 as Zeron sent Periculum to the center of the track.
With open racetrack ahead, Periculum motored to the lead and zipped away to win by 4-3/4 lengths. Osceola (Trevor Henry) followed the winner’s move to take second while Fashion Frenzie shook free from a locked pocket for third. Hillexotic held fourth and Gaines Hanover (Sylvain Filion) earned the last spot in the final.
“He was everything Mattias [Melander] told me, and Mattias has done a good job driving him,” said Zeron, who drove the trotter for the first time. "[Periculum]’s got great manners out on the racetrack, and when you ask him down the lane, he really fires. For the trip to work out that great, that was good luck too.”
Periculum has now won five times from nine starts this season in his first year back in North America following a Scandinavian campaign last year. The five-year-old son of Muscle Hill-Amour Heiress now has 10 victories from 42 tries and $563,543 earned for owners Brixton Medical Inc. and Holly Lane Stud East Ltd.
“He’s been racing great all season and he had some bad luck in those big races,” said Melander. “One time he got parked, and last time he was in at Pocono against Jiggy Jog and those and he raced really good against them first-over [finishing third]. He’s better on the bigger track, especially when he can sit like this third-over or fourth-over. He’s really fast. He’s so much stronger now than when he was three. He carries himself a lot better… he’s a very good horse."
Sent off as the 3-1 second choice, Periculum paid $8.30 to win.
Melander appeared poised for a sweep of the Maple Leaf Trot eliminations until the steadfast Venerate bobbled in stride and crossed the finish on an extended break, which placed runner-up Logan Park first in the second elimination.
Venerate (Scott Zeron), the 2-1 second choice, muscled out of post six to the point before a :27 first quarter and scurried over the track under a snug, but headstrong, hold. He clocked a :55.2 half and three-quarters in 1:22.4 before slipping from his smooth gait into a gallop as he drifted off the pylons entering the final eighth. Logan Park, sitting the pocket trip for Doug McNair, gave pursuit up the inside and crossed the line second, one length behind a galloping Venerate, whose violation of the breaking rule forced his disqualification to 10th. M Ms Dream (David Miller) pushed first-over to finish second after the disqualification with the remaining berths for the final going to Ghostly Casper (Tyler Borth) in third, Oh Well (Dexter Dunn) in fourth and Helpfirstedition (Louis-Philippe Roy) in fifth.
“I was trying to go up the rail a little bit. I had a bit of horse just before [Venerate] went off stride, but other than that I just wanted to stay out of his way,” said McNair afterwards. “He’s been a great ride for the last couple of years. He won the Breeders Crown elim last year and was fourth in the final, so he shows he can go with the top horses in North America and hopefully he gets a good race next week.”
Logan Park, a six-year-old gelding by Archangel out of Rite Outa The Park, has now won 31 races from 74 starts and banked $1,292,644 for owners Outofthepark Stable, Reg Higgs and Arpad Szabo. Kyle Fellows trains the gelding, who is seven-for-10 this year.
Coming off a victory in the Earl Rowe Memorial, Logan Park was the 8-5 favourite and paid $5.40 to win.
In winning their eliminations, Periculum and Logan Park earned a protected draw between posts two through six for the Maple Leaf Trot final, which goes to post next Saturday, Aug. 31 at Mohawk. The draw for the Maple Leaf Trot will take place during the card this Saturday, Aug. 24.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(With files from Woodbine)