Five taste first successes at Mohawk

Five rookie harness racing horses took their first lifetime victories at Woodbine Mohawk Park in a Tuesday (Aug. 23) program filled with two-year-olds.

Knowitallwes (Royalty For Life) hunted down What An Angel (Louis-Philippe Roy) from eight lengths back on the final turn under guidance from James MacDonald to score in 1:57.1 in the first race. The owner, Aedlan Stable of Fresno, bought the winning colt for $30,000 at the Lexington Select sale. Martin Lachance trains the freshman, who broke in his Aug. 14 debut.

KNOWITALLWES REPLAY

MacDonald doubled immediately with Gandolf The Black (Shadow Play) in the second race. The gelding, rolling out from a second-over position, muscled past Watch My Chips (Doug McNair) in deep-stretch and completed his maiden-breaking mile in 1:56.3. The Dominic Gladu trainee has made six starts for $15,570 in earnings and is now the first winner for dam Mimis Luck. The Stable’s Gandolftheblack group owns the gelding.

GANDOLF THE BLACK REPLAY

Fear The Crush (Fear The Dragon), the only non-maiden among the day’s two-year-old winners, gave MacDonald a third as she soared to the front in the third quarter and edged clear down the lane for the victory in 1:55. She won a pair of conditioned events at Clinton in her previous four outings and has brought in $14,128. Allan Shelton owns and trains the filly, a daughter of Badlands Hanover mare Haute Couture.

FEAR THE CRUSH REPLAY

Vallee Doree (Muscle Mass, Sylvain Filion), dropping down from her Ontario Sires Stakes Gold attempt, withstood the rally of Cardio Muscle (Trevor Henry) for her first trip to the winner’s circle with a 1:58.3 clocking. The filly made her first four starts at Harrah’s Philadelphia before Gregg Martin moved her to the Benoit Baillargeon barn on Aug. 11. Dam Glowngold was a strong New York contender in 2014 and has now produced three winners.

VALLEE DOREE REPLAY

Stonebridge Bomber (Muscle Mass) captured the sixth race for team McNair by three-quarters of a length in 1:57.3. Trainer Gregg McNair co-owns the $55,000 London Selected sale purchase with breeder Angie Stiller and Gary Colter. The colt has now started five times, including three Ontario Sires Stakes Gold tries, for $21,027 in earnings.

STONEBRIDGE BOMBER REPLAY

Reggae Hanover (Captaintreacherous) was the final two-year-old to shed winless status. Sylvain Filion guided the filly on a first-over journey from fifth to the front in the back half for the 1:55.1 win. Doug McNair drove her for trainer Tony Alagna and owners Riverview Racing, Alagna Racing, and Reggae Hanover Racing. The filly is now one-for-four lifetime.

REGGAE HANOVER REPLAY

Trainer Carmen Auciello tallied three wins on the program. MacDonald matched his feat in the sulky.

The next card on Thursday at Woodbine Mohawk Park features the $199,900 fourth leg of the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold for three-year-old trotting males.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink