Saturday (Sept. 5) was another big night of stakes action at Woodbine Mohawk Park, and Ontario’s top two-year-old pacing colts and three-year-old pacing fillies shared the limelight in a quartet of $104,000-plus Gold Series divisions.
In the $105,600 two-year-old pacing colt divisions, Shadow Play sons Lawless Shadow and Bulldog Hanover delivered impressive victories with personal best efforts.
Lawless Shadow opened the program, starting from post 7 with Bob McClure in the race bike. The colt sprinted to a :27 opening quarter and then yielded to favourite Desperate Man. Undefeated Desperate Man rolled through a :56 half and 1:24.4 three-quarters, coming under pressure from No Bettor Joy. But when McClure maneuvered Lawless Shadow into an open lane, the colt kicked into a big gear and pulled away to a one-length victory in 1:52.1. Bettor Sun closed hard to be second and Desperate Man had to settle for third.
“He used to be a handful at the start, he was making breaks, he run inside the pylons, and he’d grab on real bad and all that stuff. And now he’s two fingers, just drive him whatever way you want, and he just showed that tonight coming from behind, so I’m really, really happy with him,” said Moore. “He’s just getting better and better every start. He’s turning into such a nice baby to be around.
“He’s fulfilling my aspirations of him back in June when I had told everybody about him. I said he was worth waiting on and so on,” Moore also said. “He’s just a nice colt in every way shape and form. Emma Marie Peirson is his groom and she does a great job with him.”
Cambridge, ON resident Moore shares ownership of Lawless Shadow with R G McGroup Ltd. of Bathurst, NB, Serge Savard of St-Bruno, QC and Frank Cannon of Sanford, FL. In six starts, the colt now has one Gold and one Grassroots win, along with a victory in the Aug. 29 Nassagaweya Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
In the second pacing colt division driver Jody Jamieson sent favourite Bulldog Hanover to the lead just past the :27 quarter and the colt rang a :56 half and a 1:24.4 three-quarters on his way to a three-length victory in 1:51.4. Candy Trader finished second and Control Heaven completed the top three.
“I was relieved. He was great his last start, but then he got sick. Two weeks ago I had a virus at my barn and five out of the seven got pretty sick, so I was just a little leery going into this race whether he’d be completely over it or not,” said trainer Jack Darling. “He trained good, but you just never know how much that will take out of him. But he came through strong, he seemed 100 per cent.”
Lawless Shadow is eligible to the Metro Pace eliminations at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Sept. 19, but Bulldog Hanover is only eligible for the Ontario Sires Stakes program. His next start will not come until the final regular season leg of the Gold Series at Flamboro Downs on Oct. 4.
“I’ll probably take him over there and train him on that track maybe a week before, just to make sure. I don’t foresee any problem, although he’s never been on a half,” said Darling. “If he has six or seven starts, that will be a nice two-year-old season for him.”
The $104,800 three-year-old pacing filly divisions went to lightly regarded Betalady and All Day Sunshine, who also recorded personal-best efforts.
In the first pacing filly division, Betalady and driver Chris Christoforou started from post 5 and settled into sixth, behind favourite Lauras Love, as rose Run Vantage led the field to a :27.1 quarter. When Lauras Love moved into the outer lane behind Rose Run Victoria, Christoforou had Betalady on her heels and the fillies advanced toward the pacesetter through fractions of :56 and 1:22.4. Lauras Love and Betalady had to circle a breaking Rose Run Victoria at the top of the stretch before waging a stretch battle that saw Betalady prevail by a head in 1:50.4. Lauras Love settled for second and Beach Sports was third.
“She raced great. Got a nice trip following the one to beat and managed to get her head up to win,” said Christoforou. “Susie has done a great job keeping her fresh and consistent through the season.”
Susanne Kerwood trains Betalady for owner-breeder M And L Of Delaware LLC of Wilmington, DE and the Acton, ON resident was delighted to see the Bettors Delight daughter score her first Gold win of the season.
“She’s such a tough girl, you know, she’s been knocking on the door. She’s a nice, nice filly. Even last year she was always close, but she could just never really jump up, you know what I mean,” said Kerwood. “Chris did a great job with her, gets along with her good so that helps, that’s a bonus.”
In the second division, All Day Sunshine and driver James MacDonald started from post 3 and landed in fifth as favourite Karma Seelster sped to a :26.2 quarter. Alicorn took over control before the :54.3 half and MacDonald sent All Day Sunshine up the outside to press the pacesetter by the 1:23.2 three-quarters. After taking command in the stretch, All Day Sunshine battled through the wire to hold off Karma Seelster and Sex Appeal and claim the 1:51.3 victory.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” said trainer Dan Lagace. “She’s not a great filly, but she’s always been a pretty nice filly. She’s a big, classy filly. She’s very big, she’s about 17 hands high, and she doesn’t do nothing wrong. My wife and my daughter absolutely spoil her and she’s kind of a family pet I guess.”
The Cambridge resident shares ownership of All Day Sunshine with Christopher Nicol of Caledonia, ON and Billy Joe Timmins of Birmingham, GB. Saturday was the Sunshine Beach daughter’s second Gold win of the season and boosted her to the top of the division standings with 120 points.
The three-year-old pacing fillies will wrap up their Gold Series regular season at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Sept. 29, with the top 10 point earners then advancing to the $250,000 Super Final on Oct. 17.
(Ontario Sires Stakes)
The Ontario Sires Stakes was one of the handful of major stakes events on the Saturday card at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Recaps from the other races are available at the following links:
To view the results from Saturday's card of harness racing at Woodbine Mohawk Park, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.