Woodbine Mohawk Park: Courtly Choice pulls the upset in Canadian Pacing Derby

Courtly Choice found his way back into the spotlight on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park as last season's Meadowlands Pace and Little Brown Jug champion rallied stoutly in the stretch to win the C$525,000 Canadian Pacing Derby for free-for-allers in 1:48 4/5 at odds of 34-1.

Driver James MacDonald was in no hurry with Courtly Choice, settling into the seventh position while This Is The Plan (Yannick Gingras) shot through from the pole position to lead to the opening quarter in 25 4/5, forcing Jimmy Freight (Scott Zeron) to tuck into the pocket. Heavily-favored Lather Up (Montrell Teague) wanted no hole, though, as he pushed on from the outside and was able to clear to command about three-eighths in.

Lather Up got to the half in a comfortable 54 1/5, but he encountered some issues on the final turn as often happens to him, like back in the Dan Patch at Harrah's Hoosier Park earlier this month. That doubled up This Is The Plan in the pocket and allowed a first-over Done Well (Andy McCarthy) to gain a slight lead on the rim at the 1:22 1/5 three-quarters. Western Fame (Louis-Philippe Roy) was a loose second-over around the last turn, with Courtly Choice a loose third-over and then three-wide when Jimmy Freight escaped off the rail.

In the stretch Lather Up fought back and put Done Well away, but MacDonald fanned out widest with Courtly Choice, and a 25 3/5 last quarter propelled him by Lather Up in the closing strides to win by half a length. Western Fame wound up third, This Is The Plan fourth, and Jimmy Freight fifth. Defending champion McWicked (David Miller) elected to sit in on the far turn from sixth and then never found daylight through the lane, coming in sixth.

"It was amazing. I can't even put it into words I'm so happy. I've been trying to get a crack at one of these big ones in Canada and just haven't had a lot of luck. Tonight the race set up great, and the horse was just unbelievable," said the winning driver. "When (trainer) Blake (MacIntosh) had asked me I was excited, then I raced the horse and he was unbelievable his first start back in Canada. Last week I just didn't put him in a great spot, and the horse still was digging hard through the wire. I knew if I could find him a good helmet he would give the kick I needed, and he was airborne tonight.

"I knew I had a lot of pace. He was just getting into gear and everyone was kind of fanning out. I didn't know what Lather Up would do because he always comes back on, and he's just such a great horse. He's hard to get all the way by, but when I tipped Courtly over, I just can't even explain the feeling he was pacing so hard. Everyone said the odds were against him. It's not really David v. Goliath because Courtly has been so good, but Lather Up's just been unbeatable and just special to watch. Just to be on the same track with him is an honor, and then to get to beat him in front of my home crowd, it was amazing."

MacIntosh trains Courtly Choice, a 4-year-old son of Art Major, for owners Hutt Racing Stable, Mac And Heim Stables, Daniel Plouffe, and Touchstone Farms Inc. This was Courtly Choice's 16th career win, and he has now earned C$1,370,503. He returned $71.30 to win.

"It's right up there, winning it at your home track," remarked MacIntosh. "We were an underdog coming in. Everybody forgot about him because he hasn't been racing that great, but last week James just took care of him and didn't rush him too hard. People were thinking he wasn't that good, but he was really good last week. I just knew that we finally had his blood where we wanted it, and I knew that James had taken care of him the last couple weeks. He looked like he was back to his old self, and I'm just ecstatic about this.

"James has done an unreal job with him. I know when Dave (Miller) called me on the Monday and said that he was going to go with McWicked, it was a bit of a kick in the crotch, and I was disappointed, but I looked at it that James hadn't been beat with him at that point. I'm just super proud of him. James is a great guy."