Woodbine Mohawk Park: Atlanta crushes rivals in Maple Leaf Trot final

Atlanta was winless since a Miss Versatility Series leg at the Meadowlands in July and was coming off a break in last week's Armbro Flight Stakes final, but some equipment tinkering by trainer Ron Burke got her back on the right foot, and she delivered a powerful 1:50 4/5 performance to capture the C$560,000 Maple Leaf Trot for free-for-allers on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park. That clocking tied the stakes record.

Crystal Fashion (Bob McClure) hustled out from post eight to lead the field to the opening quarter in 26 3/5, but Lindy The Great (James MacDonald) was two-wide and advancing at that point, and so was Manchego (Louis-Philippe Roy), who got away near the front despite starting from the trailing post ten. Lindy The Great forged his way by Crystal Fashion first, but Manchego continued to drive on and had taken the lead before the 54 3/5 half.

Manchego began to open up on the field after taking over, and Roy kept the gas pedal fully depressed on the last turn as she ripped off a 27 2/5 panel to get to three-quarters in 1:22. Manchego's lead was four lengths over Lindy The Great at that point, with Guardian Angel AS (Jody Jamieson) stalled in the first-over position. Atlanta (Yannick Gingras) was second-over and had six lengths to make up at three-quarters, but Gingras fired her out three-wide prior to that marker.

In the lane Atlanta was full of trot and had collared Manchego in mid-stretch. Manchego had nothing left to give after being joined, but Atlanta kept going on to the wire, opening up to win by four lengths. Lindy The Great was the runner-up, with Gimpanzee (Doug McNair) third after being unable to keep up to Atlanta's cover. Crystal Fashion collected fourth, and Manchego salvaged fifth.

"Honestly, all the credit goes to Ron Burke. He knows the horses; it's amazing a guy like him with the brain he has. He has 300 horses, and right away after the race last week he called me, and he said I know what the problem is," remarked Gingras. "We changed the shoes four starts back. It went good for a start, the next start it was a little worse, and then a little worse, and then last week she made a break. The memory that guy has is unreal, and all the credit is to him tonight because she definitely bounced back big.

"She definitely looked pretty strong there, Manchego, at the five-eighths, and even going around the last turn, but mine felt so strong, she really did. I had a handful of trot in the last turn, and when I tipped her, she came off the cover like a sportscar. She was trotting so fast; I knew right then at the top of the stretch, even though he was up by five, I knew I'd catch him. She was tremendous."

A 5-year-old daugter of Chapter Seven, Atlanta is trained by Burke for owners Crawford Farms Racing, Brad Grant, and Howard Taylor. Atlanta posted her 23rd career victory, and she has now earned C$2,525,160. She was sent off as the 5-2 second choice and paid $7.60 to win.

"I don't know what to say. To do it here, I wish it was crowded, but she's a great mare," said Grant. "Ronnie said after last week not to worry. Made a couple of adjustments, and he said we'll win 'er. We were worried up here, at least I was (about racing returning because of COVID-19), but Woodbine Mohawk Park, they've worked hard to get it going and kept all the big races here. In the States, a lot of the big races have been shut down for the year. It's great that they're having this, and keep it going."