Woodbine Mohawk Park featured three $22,200 Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots divisions as the fourth leg of the series for sophomore colt and gelding pacers on Thursday (Aug. 31) evening and Winmebak headlined the series action on the card.
Nick Gallucci sent two trainees to the track on Thursday, both in the OSS Grassroots, and both returned as winners in their respective divisions. Winmebak posted the fastest time of the evening in the series with James MacDonald holding the lines for Gallucci.
MacDonald and Winmebak got away fifth and stayed there through the opening panel in :26.3 and half in :55. MacDonald pulled his right line and sent Winmebak on the chase on the outside through the three-quarters in 1:22.4. Down the lane, Winmebak took over and opened up on the field with ease, sprinting to a 3-1/4 length victory in 1:50.3. Sauble Ace (Bob McClure) finished second and Ahi Sunshine (Jonathan Drury) rounded out the top three.
Winmebak is a three-year-old gelded son of Shadow Play with earnings of $112,338 from eight career wins in 16 starts. Owned by Millar Farms, the chestnut gelding has had four of his career tallies this season to go along with three thirds. He paid $2.40 to win.
Gallucci trainee Leave It To Leo won his division in gate-to-wire fashion in 1:51.3.
Leave It To Leo and MacDonald made every pole a winning one through panels in :26.2, :56 and 1:24. Hes Sure Good (Sylvain Filion) challenged the leader in the stretch, but Leave It To Leo fended off the challenge to win by a half length. Hes Sure Good took second with Reign Supreme (McClure) grabbing third.
Also owned by Millar Farms, Leave It To Leo (Bettors Delight-Sunshine Patriot) was unraced as a freshman and posts his career tally of 5-1-0 in seven starts this season with $52,750 earned.
Filion and Santana Hanover capped off the OSS Grassroots action on the Thursday card.
In similar fashion to Winmebak, Santana Hanover got away fifth and stayed fifth through panels in :26 and :54.4 before Filion tugged on his right line. Santana Hanover charged on the outside and made it to second before the third panel read 1:23.4. Santana Hanover took over and kept going to win by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:51.3. Palladium Hanover (Travis Cullen) was second and Joker On Jack took the show spot.
Santana Hanover (Big Jim-So Artsi) is trained by Richard Moreau for Domenic Chiaravalle as the gelding won his third race this season and earned his fifth career victory, moving his lifetime bankroll to $247,427 with a new career mark. He paid $3.40 to win.
To view Thursday's harness racing results, click the following link: Thursday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.