Il Villaggio survived an adventurous trip to emerge victorious in Sunday night’s $515,000 William Wellwood Memorial Trot Final for two-year-old colts and geldings at Mohawk Racetrack in 1:56
.
With regular pilot Tim Tetrick in the driver’s seat, the son of Yankee Glide-Dance To Market did not get away well from post three after a gapped-out beginning. In fact, the pair landed in seventh position as the first quarter flashed up in :27.2.
In the meantime, Senor Glide, who was riding a three-race win streak entering the final, brushed the front just before the opening half of :57.3. Tetrick brought his charge to the outside at that point and let the smooth-striding colt float up to the tempo setter as the field reached the third marker in just 1:27.3.
Despite the moderate fractions, Senor Glide could not hold off Il Villaggio who took command at the top of the stretch and easily held his rivals at bay. Longshot Newport Volo rallied to be second, but was subsequently placed third for switching briefly to the pace in the stretch drive. Third-place finisher Temple Of Doom was ultimately promoted to second.
Il Villaggio returned a popular $3.10 for the win.
“My horse was kind of far back at the start,” explained Tetrick. “Early in the race there was a lot of breakers and a lot of confusion. I got kind of stuck and had to back up but it all worked out. My horse just didn’t get off on the right foot so we had to play a little catch-up. This colt’s got a real big kick. I was pretty confident as long as I had a clear shot and didn’t make any mistakes.”
The victory was the fifth straight for Il Villaggio whose only loss came in his career debut back in early July. The Erv Miller trainee improved his season’s earnings to just over $438,000 for owners Brittany Farms and Il Villaggio Partners of Kentucky and Blue Chip Bloodstock of New York.
Grumpy Jake used last second heroics to haul down the $50,000 William Wellwood Memorial Consolation which was also held on Sunday night at Mohawk.
The son of Striking Sahbra-Elegance Angus took a major shuffle as the field turned for home, but driver Jack Moiseyev was able to maneuver him through traffic in the late stages and just got up to nip Break The Bank K in the final strides.
It was the second win in seven starts this season for Grumpy Jake who is trained by Mike Guitard for the Haryott Stables Inc. of Etobicoke, Ontario. The win improved his seasonal earnings to just over $79,000.
(WEG)
To view Sunday’s harness racing results, click here