Woodbine Mohawk Park: Crazy Wow shocks favorites in Maple Leaf Trot

Crazy Wow, making just his second start for trainer Marcus Melander, got his shoes pulled off, and pulled a 31-1 shocker in the C$651,000 Maple Leaf Trot for free-for-allers on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Starting from the pole position, Crazy Wow (Jody Jamieson) shot right out and took the field to the first quarter in 27 1/5. He would then yield to Will Take Charge (Tim Tetrick), who came with a rush out of third and cleared going to the 55 1/5 half. At that point, elimination winner Ariana G (David Miller) tipped first-over from fourth, giving a second-over trip to the other elimination winner Marion Marauder (Scott Zeron) and a third-over journey to Hannelore Hanover (Yannick Gingras), who was also racing without shoes.

Will Take Charge held a one-length lead on Ariana G at the 1:23 2/5 three-quarters, and Ariana G would join him off the last turn and into upper stretch. Will Take Charge drifted out, though, and that gave room for Crazy Wow to come back on through. Once he had the space, Crazy Wow trotted through and then away, reaching the wire 3 3/4 lengths to the good in 1:51 1/5. Marion Marauder could only trot evenly off cover and was second, with Ariana G third. Dancer Hall (Sylvain Filion) took fourth and Hannelore Hanover came in fifth.

"I talked to Marcus and he said that he was real confident in the horse," said Jamieson. "We actually hooked up jogging and warming up our horse St. Lads Neptune. He had this horse out here, Crazy Wow, and he said 'just look at him, look how happy he is.' I couldn't argue with him. The horse looked amazingly happy, and when the horse saw the gate tonight, he was just a different animal. I've watched him race plenty of times, but I didn't realize what kind of horse he was. That's a big trip tonight, and he made it look real easy.

"I wasn't sure I was going to get through. Around the last turn I'm following what I figured was the best horse in the race, Will Take Charge, and with Ariana G out there I figured I'm going to be third at the very worst. A little slim lane opened up, and I jammed myself through there like I get in trouble sometimes for doing. He just trotted right through there, and once I got through there clear there was never a doubt he was going to win."

Melander trains Crazy Wow, a 6-year-old Crazed stallion, for owners Our Horse Cents Stables, Stable 45, J And T Silva Stables LLC., and Deo Volente Farms LLC. Crazy Wow is now a 22-time winner in his career, and he pushed his bankroll to C$2,648,502. He returned $64.20 to win.

"I've been thinking of taking off his shoes since I got the horse like eight weeks ago," stated Melander. "We trained him our way, and then he qualified good at Pocono. He was a little short last week, of course, after just one qualifier after an eight-week break. We were actually supposed to race barefoot last week, but then there were two scratches in the race and we only had to beat one horse, so we kept the shoes on him and saved some feet on him. The track is amazing today, so it was an easy decision.

"I'm not really surprised. When we got the one-hole he showed he's beaten these horses before. The horse felt so sharp going into the race. He needed the race last week, and I've been very happy with him this week. He warmed up great, and I knew he's got an extra gear when I pulled the shoes."