The boys were back in town on Saturday (June 27) at Woodbine Mohawk Park as the Campbellville, Ont. oval hosted 10 two-year-old qualifiers for male pacers on an overcast morning.
Judges listed the track as 'good' and assessed a one-second variant, but that didn't stop some of the rookies from flashing some impressive speed in preparation for stakes season.
Highlandbeachsbest set the tone in the morning's first qualifier. Clearing to the lead through a :31 opening quarter, Highlandbeachsbest and driver Sylvain Filion fronted the field through middle fractions of :59.1 and 1:26.3, then held off the late surge of Captainofrocknroll (Bob McClure) to win by a nose in 1:55.3.
It was the second appearance of the season and second win for Highlandbeachsbest, a homebred owned by Highland Thoroughbred Farm of Inglewood, Ont. along with Marty Fine of North York, Ont. Amanda Fine trains the full-brother to the fast Highlandbeachycove.
Joelsyy Hanover was the fastest qualifier of the morning session, tripping the timer in 1:55.2 for his connections. After allowing Touchem All Joe and Gold Train to take turns in front of him on the lead through fractions of :30.1, :59.2 and 1:127.1, Joelsyy Hanover popped the pocket turning for home and sprinted home with a :27.4 final stanza to hold off the debuting Linedrive Hanover (Jonathan Drury) by three parts of a length.
Joelsyy Hanover is a son of JK Endofanera from the former OSS campaigner and millionaire Jans Luck. That mare was trained during her OSS career by John Pentland, who co-owns and trains Joelsyy Hanover -- a $15,000 Harrisburg yearling purchase -- with Ellie Bale of Guelph, Ont.
To view the full results from Saturday's qualifying session for the two-year-old male pacers, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Baby Races).
Some fast miles on a heavy
Some fast miles on a heavy track. Glad to see a great set of qualifiers this morning and enjoying your show Greg and Mark. I am a small percentage owner in thestable Bettors Hope. It's a beautiful sunny day here (20 degrees) here in Lower Sackville, N.S. Glad that the fans are back to live racing at some tracks. I attended a live card last night in Truro, N.S.
This is very nice for the
This is very nice for the bettors, sure like watching, keep up the good work, and thank you and woodbine for putting on the show.