Not one to rest on his laurels, trainer Carmen Auciello enjoyed a banner Saturday at Woodbine Mohawk Park thanks to a pair of wins and a third-place finish in the Pepsi North America Cup and 48 hours later followed up that productive night with a four-win performance during the Monday evening card at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Auciello got things rolling thanks to a third race triumph with Saulsbrook Raven (1:53.2). Jonathan Drury guided the filly to a narrow triumph before returning to victory lane the very next race with the Auciello-trained Never Mind N (1:54.1). They also teamed up to win Race 9 with Mister Magic in 1:53.3.
The piece de resistance for Auciello, however, came in the featured $36,000 Preferred Trot thanks to a 23-1 upset with Mass Fortune K. James MacDonald mapped out a perfect, two-hole trip for his charge while Grandma Heidi chopped out fractions of :26.4, :55.3 and 1:23.3. MacDonald angled off the rail in the lane and Mass Fortune K stormed home in :28.3 to win by a head over Grandma Heidi in 1:52.2. Steuben Hanover was third.
Aaron Waxman and Santo Vena share ownership on the four-year-old son of Muscle Massive-Ice Fortune K. Together they watched the 12-time winner improve his 2020 record to 5-3-3 from 17 starts with the victory. It was a new lifetime mark for the career winner of $328,996.
As for Auciello, the Grand Slam performance lifted his yearly win total to 106 while his seasonal earnings climbed over $2 million. He’s just four wins away from 1,500 lifetime victories and his purse earnings recently surpassed $23 million.
To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results – Woodbine Mohawk Park.