Horseman Roger Mayotte has commented on three-year-old Cams Card Shark colt Windsun Thunder heading into the $58,100 finale of the Summertime Pacing Series Saturday at Mohawk Racetrack.
Starting from Post 2 for trainer Bruce MacDonald, Windsun Thunder is the 3-1 morning line favourite for the 10-horse Summertime. The event has been carded as Race 6 (9:15 p.m.) on the 13-dash card, which gets underway at 7:30 p.m.
After his victory in 1:54.3 during the opening leg, Windsun Thunder made an early break in the second round, but rallied for a second-place victory, finishing just a half-length in arrears.
"He actually threw a shoe before the race, so I had to take him back into the paddock to get it repaired," Mayotte explained. "Then when I took him back out and went to go behind the gate, all the horses were coming at him and I turned him before they got to him. They all went by him and it just startled him a bit and he wouldn't swing onto the pace after that.
"Once he finally landed on the pace, he got into the race going to the first turn. I just thought he was too far back at that point, but he made a huge recovery. I had some other options going into the series, but once this guy won the first leg he was my choice to stick with."
Four other winners from the preliminary round will be in the field, including Smile Fromeartoear, Little Thief, Space Walk and Sams Dragon.
For the second straight year, trainer Tim Pinske will be well represented by multiple starters. The veteran conditioner sends out Todd J H Hanover and Arts Country as a betting entry and they will start from Posts 7 and 10, respectively, as a 5-1 morning-line proposition.
In last year's edition of the Summertime, Pinske sent out a strong entry in the final, but could only manage a third-place finish with Sandro Hanover behind eventual winner Priceless Edition who will, ironically, compete on this Saturday's undercard in the $47,000 Open Pace.
In the Open Pace, Secrets Nephew will look to extend his win streak to three as he sits less than $35,000 away from $1 million in career earnings. Co-owner and driver Lyle MacArthur will once again be sitting up behind the six-year-old son of Camluck from Post 5 in the compact six-horse field (Race 10, 10:39 p.m.).
Also in the Open field will be Justice Cam, Soul Chaser, Little Amos and Bigtime Ball.
Click here to view Mohawk's Saturday entries.
(With files from WEG)