The final portion of Woodbine Mohawk Park's mammoth five-day session of 56 qualifiers went to post on Monday (June 7) with 13 events going to gate on a warm day over a "fast" track.
Bluemoon Bayama narrowly paced the fastest mile of the session with a gate-to-wire performance in 1:54.2. Driver Sylvain Filion fired the four-year-old Sportswriter gelding off the car to the point, pacing the first quarter in :27.4. Snagging breathers through the race's midpoint of :56.3 and 1:25.2, Bluemoon Bayama then held a late charge from Machpheus at bay to win by a half length while St Lads Thriller rallied for third. Jean Tourigny trains the winner.
A pair tied for the second-fastest mile of the session, with two qualifiers on the day timed a tick slower than the fastest. Hes Swift was first to pace a 1:54.3 mile on the day, doing so while parked first over through fractions of :28, :56.3 and 1:25.3. The Carmen Auciello trainee, piloted by Mark McKinnon, finished the mile in :29 despite broken equipment to win over UF Bettors Hanover by one-and-a-quarter lengths. Machin A Trick finished third off a pocket trip.
Then in the penultimate mile of the day, Hunter Hill matched the 1:54.3 time with a wire-to-wire journey for driver Mike Saftic and trainer Bill Cass. The four-year-old Somebeachsomewhere gelding set a clip of :28.1, :58 and 1:26.4 while chased by pocket-sitter Northern Baccarat to finish the mile one-and-a-half lengths better with a :27.4 final quarter. The Devil You Know took third, 10 lengths farther back.
The Monday morning qualifier session is available in its entirety below:
To view Monday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Monday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.