Woodbine Mohawk Park: Grant hopes for weekend stakes success

Owner Brad Grant will have horses competing in three of the four graded stakes events being held at his home track, Woodbine Mohawk Park in Ontario, on Saturday (Aug. 29), including pre-race favorite Athena’s Girl in the C$425,000 Grade 1 Peaceful Way for 2-year-old female trotters.

Athena’s Girl will head to the Peaceful Way final as the 8-5 morning-line choice after winning her elimination last week by 1-1/4 lengths over City Of Light in 1:54. Her time was just one-fifth of a second off the fastest mile by a freshman filly trotter in Canada this season.

Grant owns Athena’s Girl on his own but also shares in the ownership of another Peaceful Way finalist – Nevis Peak. She finished fourth in the event’s other elimination, which was won by Dataprivacy in 1:54 4/5. Dataprivacy is the 3-1 second choice on the morning line while Nevis Peak, a daughter of Walner out of 2020 Hambletonian winner Ramona Hill (also co-owned by Grant), is third at 9-2.

In addition to the Peaceful Way, Mohawk hosts the C$570,000 Grade 1 William Wellwood Memorial for 2-year-old male trotters on Saturday as well as Grade 3 divisions of the Eternal Camnation for 2-year-old female pacers and Nassagaweya for 2-year-old male pacers.

Grant, a resident of Milton, Ontario, owns 3-1 morning-line favorite Money Carlo in the second of the two C$120,000 Eternal Camnation splits and 6-1 second choice Yes I Am Hanover in the first of the two C$110,000 Nassagaweya divisions.

“It gives me a reason to go to the track,” said Grant, a 2025 inductee into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, with a laugh. “We’ll hope for the best.”

Grant has never won the Peaceful Way, but Athena’s Girl or Nevis Peak could change that. Athena’s Girl, trained by Marcus Melander, went off stride in each of her first three races but has won back-to-back starts since then following the addition of trotting hobbles. Last week, she was in fourth place at three-quarters but charged home in :26.4 to earn the victory.

“Marcus said he wanted to put the hobbles on her just to help her a little bit,” Grant said. “She’s got the talent, she’s got the speed, she just had to figure it out. It looks like she has.

“She seemed to be well within herself (in her elimination), but every race is different with 2-year-old trotters.”

Athena’s Girl is a daughter of Walner-Fashion Athena, and her siblings include stakes-winners Millies Possesion, Fashion Green, Fashion Annie, and Practical Man. Grant purchased her for $300,000 at the 2025 Standardbred Horse Sale.

“She’s very richly bred, and being a Walner, you can’t go too far wrong,” Grant said. “She seems to have a ton of speed. When you watch her races, when she goes forward, she seems to be able to cover ground very quickly. She seems to be the real deal, and hopefully she’ll continue to go forward and do great things.”

Dexter Dunn will drive Athena’s Girl, who leaves from post 6 in the field of 10.

Nevis Peak heads to the Peaceful Way final with two wins and a second in four career races. She won her first two starts, in the New Jersey Sire Stakes Platinum Series, before a runner-up finish behind Wall Of Fame (undefeated in six races this season) in the final.

She will leave from post 1 in the Peaceful Way, with Yannick Gingras driving for trainer Ron Burke.

“I think she’s another one that’s got all the tools to be a really good one,” Grant said. “She’s got a big heart, wants to race, it’s just going to take time with her to figure it all out, but I think everything is there. Ronnie and Yannick will figure it out.”

Grant owns Nevis Peak with Burke Racing Stable, Crawford Farms Racing, and Larry Karr. Grant and Crawford Farms Racing, which shares the breeding credit for Nevis Peak with Hanover Shoe Farms, were among the owners of the filly’s mom, Ramona Hill. Nevis Peak was a $250,000 buy under the name Ronette Hanover at the 2025 Standardbred Horse Sale.

“I’m in with a great group that own her,” Grant said. “I’ve had a number of horses with all of them, and they’re just good people to be with. We’re looking to have some fun with her. Hopefully, we’ve got another good one.”

He added about the Peaceful Way, “Just to get to the final is always the first step. There are some nice fillies all the way through that field. I think that with the whole group of 2-year-olds this year, on any given day there could be somebody else that steps up. I just kind of really watch my horses, and hopefully they continue to go forward, and we’ll hope for the best.”

As for Grant’s remaining stakes hopefuls, Money Carlo heads to her Eternal Camnation division with three wins and a second in five starts for trainer Ian Moore. The daughter of Bulldog Hanover-Shes Some Treasure will leave from post 8 in a field of eight, with James MacDonald in the sulky.

Yes I Am Hanover enters his Nassagaweya division with one win and a second in five races this season. The son of Bulldog Hanover-Youaremycandygirl finished second to stablemate Atlas Ross (undefeated in four starts this year) in an Ontario Sire Stakes Gold event at Mohawk on Aug. 16. He will leave from post 4 in a field of seven, with Bob McClure driving for trainer Gregg McNair.

Shalom Hanover, unbeaten in four races, is the 1-5 morning-line favorite in the division, with Louis-Philippe Roy driving for trainer Moore.

“(Money Carlo) has done really well; she’s just a tough competitor,” Grant said. “(Yes I Am Hanover) is just starting to find himself. He raced really big the other night, so we thought we’d give him a shot at this and see if he continues to go forward.”

Saturday’s card at Mohawk also includes two C$50,000 eliminations for the Grade 1 Canadian Pacing Derby for older male pacers. Racing begins at 6:45 p.m. (EDT).