New fastest two-year-old of the year

Qualifiers and baby races don’t always produce speed records, but Clever Cody (The Panderosa – Cams Van Go) made a statement in his second harness racing appearance during the Saturday (Jun. 24) session of two-year-old qualifiers at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

A dozen dashes for male pacers and trotters were conducted on Saturday, with Clever Cody turning home heads with his effort in the morning’s fifth qualifier. Tyler Moore guided Clever Cody to the front of the field with a tepid :30 opener, and then asked for a touch more speed in a :59 half. The back half was much more animated and accelerated. After a :27.4 third panel to hit the three quarters in 1:26.4, Clever Cody repelled Chain Gang (James MacDonald) with a :27 closer to trip the timer in 1:53.4. Chain Gang’s :26.1 final panel impressed, but left the rookie a half-length short of the winner.

Trained by Dr. Ian Moore for Francois Lecomte of St. Hyacinthe,Que., Michael Goldberg of Toronto, Ont., Gordon McComb of Paris, Ont. and R G Mcgroup Ltd. of Bathurst, N.B., Clever Cody was a $24,000 Ohio Selected Yearling Sale purchase. The time of the mile was two-fifths faster than Pass Line’s 1:54.1 pari-mutuel score from Thursday (June 21) at Mohawk as the fastest mile from a two-year-old in Canada this year.

Switching over to the trots, the fastest mile from the Saturday session bore resemblance to the fastest mile from Friday’s flock of fillies. Not in terms of the trip or the connections, but the family tree.

Masstercraft (Muscle Mass – Pretty Crafty) was a $110,000 yearling from the 2022 London Classic Yearling Sale, and he showed signs of living up to that six-figure price tag with a solid closing score on Saturday. Trevor Henry settled him off the early speed as Stoney Burke (Bert Renaud) trotted through uncontested quarters of  :30.4, 1:00.3 and 1:30.3. Henry asked Masstercraft for another gear in that backhalf, and the trotter responded with :57 speed over that last half-mile to pick off the temposetter by a length with the mile timed in 1:59.3.

Kyle Bossence conditions Masstercraft for owner Steven Colvin of Hanover, Ont. Masstercraft’s dam Pretty Crafty is a half-sister to Uneeda Dream, who is the dam of Karens Dream — the fastest trotting filly from Friday’s baby races at Mohawk. Masstercraft is a full-brother to multiple stakes winner Publicity Seeker.

QUALIFIER REPLAY

For complete qualifier results, click here.

From Standardbred Canada