$100,000 purchase wins on Mohawk debut

Woodbine Mohawk Park saw its first fields of two-year-olds of the harness racing season on Friday (Jun. 17) as two groups of fillies made their pari-mutuel debuts.

In the trotting contest, Horn Player (Tactical Landing, Anthony MacDonald) looked bound for victory after a speedy backstretch brush before breaking stride in the final eighth of a mile. Una Madonna (Tactical Landing, James MacDonald) was the beneficiary; she became the new leader and stopped the clock in 2:02.1 with a :29.3 final quarter.

Its Your Choice (Muscle Mass, Doug McNair), who brought $150,000 at Harrisburg, finished second after being passed by the previously mentioned two in the third quarter. Cardio Muscle (Muscle Mass, Sylvain Filion) was third.

The first three fractions were :29.3, 1:01.1, and 1:32.1.

UNA MADONNA REPLAY

Dominic Gladu trains Una Madonna, a $100,000 Lexington Select Sale purchase. The Stable’s Una Madonna Group co-owns the filly with Hutchinson Harness of North Ridgeville and Never 2 Late Stable of Greenlawn.

Always B A Star (Always B Miki, Jody Jamieson) lived up to her name in the pacing dash. She rallied to the front after a slow start and led through :28.3, :58.4, and 1:28.4 fractions en route to a 1:56.3 win. Charming Vixen (Sportswriter, Filion) chased first-up and finished second over Miss Brickley (A Rocknroll Dance, Bob McClure)

ALWAYS B A STAR REPLAY

Always B A Star is a homebred for trainer Carl Jamieson, who co-owns her with Brian Paquet of Quebec City and George Harrison of Wanes Walton (England).

Also on the card, Hervey Hanover (Somebeachsomewhere) defeated favourite Shadow In Red off a pocket trip to win the Pop-Up Series Final for pacing horses and geldings. McNair found the winning gelding the two-hole quickly behind Bayfield Beach (McClure) and sat behind that opponent through :28, :56.2, and 1:25 panels until looking to the inside in the stretch.

Hervey Hanover battled to get by the drifting leader and fend off Shadow In Red (Filion) for the win in 1:54. Shadow In Red was a narrow second over Bayfield Beach.

HERVEY HANOVER REPLAY

Hervey Hanover, a six-year-old, is now 18-for-91 lifetime and has earned $267,842. Jodie Cullen trains the gelding for A1 Stable of Dundas. He also won the second preliminary leg of the Pop-Up Series.

Woodbine Mohawk Park’s next card holds its signature race, the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup, along with the Fan Hanover, Goodtimes, Roses Are Red, and Mohawk Gold Cup. First post will be at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink