This year’s edition of the Mohawk Million is twice as nice for Blake MacIntosh.
When the field of 10 lines up behind the gate for Standardbred racing’s richest event for two-year-old trotters on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park, the horseman who recently surpassed 1,250 career training wins will have two chances, namely, Go Ahead Makemyday and Monalishi, to win the prestigious race. And not just as a conditioner, MacIntosh is also a co-owner of both rookie trotters.
“It is so exciting to be in a race like this," said MacIntosh. "We have raced in a lot of big races over the years, but these two-year-olds are very special to us.”
A grey son of Walner-Uvie Hanover, Go Ahead Makemyday made a sudden impact in his first start this June at Woodbine Mohawk Park. After a pair of 2:00.2 qualifiers at the Milton, Ont. oval, the colt took top prize in his Tompkins-Geers Stakes on June 28. Administrated by the Hambletonian Society, the Tompkins-Geers attracted a single division for both the pacing and trotting events. Driven by Sylvain Filion, Go Ahead Makemyday got off the wings quickly and went on to notch a 2-1/4-length win in 1:57.1. It is the biggest victory to date for the horse bred by Riina Rekila of Siuro, Finland.
Go Ahead Makemyday (his original Million slot owner was Diamond Creek Farm) arrives at his highest-profile engagement off a second to Mohawk Million contender Onajetplane in the $337,838 New Jersey Classic, held at The Meadowlands on Sept. 6. One week earlier, Go Ahead Makemyday won his New Jersey Classic elimination in a career-best 1:54.4.
A $17,000 purchase at the 2023 Lexington Select Yearling Sale, Go Ahead Makemyday is 3-2-0 from seven starts, accompanied by $140,065 in purse earnings, for MacIntosh and co-owners Van Camp Trotting Corp., Mortgage Boys Stable and Ozzie MacKay
“He is just a nice, consistent horse,” said MacIntosh. “He can leave and do whatever you want with him. He had the one mistake, in the final of the Millard [on Aug. 8 at Mohawk] where he broke stride, so we threw on the trotting hopples after that. He’s been very steady.”
MacIntosh’s other Million hopeful rests on the hooves of Monalishi, a daughter of Green Manalishi S-Pretty Phylly G.
On Aug. 24 at Mohawk, with James MacDonald at the controls, Monalishi won in stakes record fashion in a thrilling renewal of the $390,000 Peaceful Way. Eighth of 10 through the first half and on the move from sixth after three-quarters, the fleet-of-foot brown filly fired down the lane to post a half-length score in 1:52.2, propelled by a :27.4 final panel.
“She’s not great on the front, even training down,” noted MacIntosh. “It was a sprint for home, and she put her nose down and dug in.”
“I said to Blake that she is so nice to drive,” said MacDonald after that victory. “She just kind of rode lightly on the line the whole way and turning for home she was on the bit, but not raging. I said, ‘Maybe, we will get a chunk.’ Every time I asked her, she just gave me a little more and a little more, and then halfway down the lane, she really kicked into gear. I was pretty confident she was going to get there.”
Monalishi eked out a nose nod in the Champlain Stakes on Sept. 13, a wire-to-wire score in 1:54.4. While the late-race dramatics made for some nervous moments, seeing a resolute Monalishi emerge on top had MacIntosh beaming.
“You know that you have already purchased a slot for the Mohawk Million, and all you’re thinking is, ‘I don’t want to lose going into it.’ But she wanted to win and she got the job done.”
A $28,000 yearling purchase at the 2023 Standardbred Horse Sale, Monalishi is 5-1-0 from seven starts. The lone blemish on her record came when she broke stride in her first race, the Tompkins-Geers, on June 27.
“She has been a dream filly this year. She has done everything we have asked her to do. She wants to win.”
From July 11 to Aug. 5, Monalishi won three straight Ontario Sires Stakes, punctuated by striking gold in the $150,000 Gold Mid-Season Final on that Monday evening last month. MacIntosh, who co-owns Monalishi with Tim Klemencic (Brad Grant was the original Mohawk Million slot owner), is hoping for another big-time performance in the Million.
“She is amazing, a horse that goes out there and gives it everything she has got. She works hard every day.”
Just like the man who watches over her and the others in his barn.
In a sport defined by numbers – payouts, purses, personal statistics, pacing and trotting miles, and more – MacIntosh himself is on the cusp of a notable five-figure mark, specifically, 10,000 training starts.
“At times, it feels like it has flown by quickly. When you have a down year, it feels like it is going slower. I hadn’t realized we are coming up to that [mark] – that’s a lot of starts.”
It was 24 years ago when MacIntosh launched his training career. His rookie season yielded a 3-2-1 line from 16 starts. Prelude Semalu, a son of Shipps Purser-Semalu Cosmic, gave MacIntosh his first training triumph. The nine-length victory came on Dec. 10, 2000 in race 14 at Windsor Raceway. There have been many more highlights since that $5,500 dash with Mark MacDonald in the race bike.
In 2019, MacIntosh reached 100 wins in a single season (102) for the first time and recorded $2 million in purse earnings for the second straight campaign. Those two seasons were headlined by the numerous Grand Circuit feats of Courtly Choice, including wins in the Meadowlands Pace, Little Brown Jug and Canadian Pacing Derby.
Five years later, MacIntosh is on pace to have his most successful year. The stable has 87 wins, to go along with $2,730,668 in purse earnings (less than $40,000 away from setting a new personal best), as of press time on Sept. 19.
“It means a lot to our team. We had a couple of down seasons the past couple years, where we struggled to get the right horses in the barn, but everything has fallen into place this year. We’ve got a lot of great help. Ashlee Sluggett is running the barn in New York and Clayton Miller is my assistant up here, who both do a great job. To have people like that in charge helps a lot.”
MacIntosh, as he always has, will continue to look ahead and not back. At least for now.
On Wednesday, he was in Ohio to watch his bay filly, A Few Choice Words, a daughter of Courtly Choice-Top Choice Hanover, finish second in both her elimination and final of the 54th Jugette.
Soon, his thoughts will turn to Saturday evening and the night that awaits his rising star rookies. With a pair of chances, good ones, to step into the Mohawk Million winner’s circle, MacIntosh is looking for his young trotting twosome to be at the top of their respective games.
“I’m okay right now – there is so much to focus on in the here and now. But I imagine Friday evening I will be thinking about it all night and hoping everything goes right.
“We just hope we can get the job done and that one can win and the other races well. That’s all we can hope for.”
Saturday's card also includes the $1 million Metro Pace for two-year-old pacers, $713,000 Canadian Trotting Classic for three-year-old trotters, $532,000 Shes A Great Lady Stakes for two-year-old pacing fillies and the $347,000 Elegantimage Stakes for three-year-old trotting fillies.
Doors open at 5 p.m. and there will be an early first race post time of 6:30 p.m. Admission and parking are free. Guests can enjoy line dancing and music on the apron by special guest DJs. The Milton District Hospital Foundation will also be running a 50/50 draw. To commemorate the evening, guests on-track will receive a Mohawk Million flask (while supplies last).
To view Saturday's complete harness racing entries, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(With files from Woodbine)