Woodbine Mohawk Park: Gallucci hoping for Grand Circuit success on Saturday

Trainer Nick Gallucci has some potential 2-year-old star power hitting the Grand Circuit for the first time on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park. With freshmen making stops in two divisions of the Nassagaweya for colts and geldings and the Eternal Camnation for rookie fillies, Gallucci is hopeful this his successful Ontario-breds can do well against mixed company.

Aviator, a son of Sportswriter, is the first he hopes will take off kindly in Saturday's C$139,300 first Nassagaweya division (race two), as he meets six others after landing the pole position.

"That trip wasn't his kind," said Gallucci, referring to a first-over grind in the August 14 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series division at Mohawk. "He put in a couple of steps, and we've made some changes."

Aviator was a winner in his first two career starts but finished fourth in his first stakes appearance. How well Aviator will do on Saturday remains to be seen, but Gallucci believes he fits the company well.

"Even though he had a tough trip, he still paced a mile in 1:52 with a 27 last quarter," said Gallucci.

The opening split of the Nassagaweya appears to be wide-open as horses come in from many different classes. Nautical Hanover (post six) and Many Moons (post seven) exit the Dream Maker Series, where the former was second in the final and the latter fifth despite owning a 1:51 3/5 race-best career mark. Contact Zone (post two) and Magical Arthur (post five) both look to build on Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots Series wins.

Battle of Waterloo champion Betterhavemymoney had his perfect season shelved after a fifth-place finish in his Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series division on August 14, and he'll look for better fortune two races later.

"I don't think the trip did him any good," said Gallucci. "Maybe he bounced after those tough miles on the half-mile track?"

Whatever the reason for the defeat, the son of Betterthancheddar already has two Gold Series divisions to his credit over this surface and certainly is capable of a bounce-back effort.

"I trained him this morning (Wednesday), and he was very sharp," said Gallucci.

Betterhavemymoney drew post six in a field of eight in the C$140,300 second Nassagaweya division carded as race four of 13 on Saturday night. The field is made up of predominantly Ontario-based horses, with the lone exception being Wearinmysixshooter (post four), a son of Captaintreacherous that has been first, second, and third in three Pennsylvania Sire Stakes events for trainer Nancy Takter prior to his arrival for the Nassagaweya.

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The juvenile pacing filly Prohibition Legal (post five) has been letter-perfect thus far, with three wins in as many starts for Gallucci. The Millar Farms-homebred daughter of Big Jim hails from their superb broodmare Catch A Wish, who from 10 living foals has seven with earnings in excess of six figures. Prohibition Legal enters the C$113,650 Eternal Camnation (race 12) off of a 1:52 victory in the Gold Series at Woodbine Mohawk Park on August 17. Given that she hadn't raced in a month prior to that effort, Prohibition Legal should be primed for a big mile on Saturday.

"She's done everything we've asked," said Gallucci. "She's staked to everything up here; the Champlain and the She's A Great Lady. We may skip the Champlain and just get her ready for the She's A Great Lady."

First and foremost, Prohibition Legal will focus on her six rivals on Saturday night that collectively have won just once in 2021, with Speak Your Mind (post one) the lone winner in a Gold Series leg on July 2 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

The other Eternal Camnation split (race six) features the unbeaten Free To Be Me, as she takes the step up to stakes competition after four consecutive wins.

Perhaps Galluci's most intriguing stakes entrant on Saturday night is Powertrain (post six), who meets five others in a C$85,250 Somebeachsomewhere division carded as race 11.

"He was injured as a yearling and was never supposed to race," said Gallucci of the sophomore son of Shadow Play that has advanced admirably in 2021. "He didn't race last year, and we were going to try him over the winter, but he got shut down by COVID."

Powertrain had to learn his lessons quickly and won his first three starts, including an Ontario Grassroots event.

"Those first few starts didn't get him much experience because there were only a couple who could go," said Gallucci. "Then he started getting into tougher fields and getting jammed up, and he wasn't used to that."

Powertrain, despite his minimal experience, flashed some impressive power when he finished second behind Ontario's top dog Bulldog Hanover in a Gold division on August 7.

"That was the first time Sylvain (Filion) sent him to the inside, and he didn't really get his footing. Perhaps if he could have gotten to the outside he could have done better," Gallucci said.

Powertrain gets another shot at Bulldog Hanover (post four), a four-time winner in six 2021 starts, in the Somebeachsomewhere.

The opening C$86,260 Somebeachsomewhere division (race eight) features a quartet of Gold Series performers from posts one to four facing off against three shippers from south of the border. Whichwaytothebeach (post six) figures to attract plenty of support after a convincing 1:50 1/5 victory in the Max Hempt Consolation at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono last Saturday.

Finally, the stakes-filled card also includes the C$169,550 Simcoe (race five) for 3-year-old pacing fillies. The 11-horse field contains a number of talented young ladies led by two-time Gold Series winner Voelz Delight.

Not part of the Grand Circuit action, but featuring those types of horses, is a C$35,000 F&M Open, including many of the 12 starters in next Saturday's C$316,000 Roses Are Red final.

The action at Woodbine Mohawk Park kicks off at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, with a $100,000 guaranteed Pick 5 pool.