Many have been wondering where Keep It Real, one of the prides of the Canadian harness racing industry this year, has been since racing in the $677,665 Delvin Miller Adios at the Meadows. Trot Insider caught up with the colt's trainer, Joey Shea, after the bay recorded a qualifying mile this morning at Mohawk Racetrack
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Starting from Post 4 in the fifth race, Keep It Real put in a wire-to-wire effort, spinning off the fractions in :27.4, :58 and 1:26.1. The son of Real Artist came home with a :27.2 final quarter and stopped the clock in 1:53.3, more than eight lengths ahead of his closest rival.
Marc Whebby, who has driven the colt exclusively in all of his charted miles in the Maritimes, was aboard the Burlington Stakes winner this morning.
"Marc got off the bike with him and he was really happy with the way he went," Shea told Trot Insider. "He was well in hand. Marc just sort of let him pace the last end of it (the mile) on his own."
Shea told Trot Insider that time was not the important factor in this morning's performance, but the nature in which the colt raced was paramount.
The trainer said that Keep It Real had been battling a foot separation since the Adios. "It started in the Adios," he explained. "We got him home and got Frank O'Toole to take a look at him. He was able to patch him up, and that was about three weeks ago now."
Shea told Trot Insider that the colt will either be entered to qualify again or he will be dropped in for an overnight.
"If all goes well, we will be looking to send him to the Little Brown Jug," Shea told Trot Insider. The trainer explained that the 'Jug' is not a sure thing at this point, but it is the next target on the proverbial dart board.
A total of seven qualifying races went postward this morning at Mohawk.
Click here to view the charted harness racing results from the Mohawk qualifying session.