Woodbine Mohawk Park: Emoticon Legacy cruises in Goodtimes final

Emoticon Legacy, driven by Louis-Philippe Roy for trainer Luc Blais, matched the fastest mile ever trotted in Canada after scoring in 1:50 2/5 in Saturday night's Grade 2 C$227,000 Goodtimes Stakes final for 3-year-old males at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Landing On Time (James MacDonald) and Blank (Dexter Dunn) left out quickest at the start, but Blank made a break before the first turn, leaving Landing On Time on the front-end. Landing On Time's time on the point wouldn't last very long, though, as Roy moved up two-wide with Emoticon Legacy and wrestled the top spot away from him after the 26 4/5 quarter.

From there, Emoticon Legacy rolled on through a 55 1/5 half and a 1:23 three-quarters, and then came home in 27 2/5, despite drifting out, to win by open lengths. Gap Kronos S (Ake Svanstedt), who went first-over out of fourth on the last turn, wound up second and Landing On Time finished third. LMC Wagon Wheel (Tyler Borth) turned a second-over journey into a fourth-place result and Wildturkey Hanover (Phil Hudon) grabbed fifth.

The time of 1:50 2/5 was a Canadian, track and stakes record for a 3-year-old, eclipsing the 1:50 3/5 mark set by King Of The North in the 2022 Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Colt Trot final at Woodbine Mohawk Park and tied older horses Alrajah One, Atlanta and Gaines Hanover for the all-age Canadian standard.

► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter

"I didn't necessarily want to race him on the lead again, but leaving the gate and going into the first turn, I thought it was the best option for me because otherwise I was going to have to come first-up on the other best two that I thought were in the race," Roy noted. "I didn't even see the quarter. Going at the half I saw 55 1/5 and I was a little bit worried, to be honest, but the horse just proved he's a different animal.

"The running-out was a thing that he never did before, so I'm sure Luc's going to plan a way to get that corrected. Otherwise he was trotting real good."

A homebred Walner-Emoticon Hanover colt for Serge Godin's Determination stable, Emoticon Legacy has a summary of 6-0-0 from nine outings, has put away C$349,137 and paid $3.00 to win as the 1-2 choice.

"This year he was a different horse. Last year he was a little bit anxious and he couldn't control his emotions I think," added Blais. "This year, we know him and he's more easy. I started differently with him and it worked out. He's in the big races like the Hambletonian and I know he's got lots of speed, but he's just got to control his emotions.

"I think he'll go to Vernon Downs in the Zweig at the beginning of next month."