Woodbine Mohawk Park: Green Manalishi conquers in Canadian Trotting Classic

Green Manalishi's affinity for Canada continued on Saturday night as he improved to four-for-four in his career north of the border with a 1:52 4/5 decision in the C$605,000 Canadian Trotting Classic final for 3-year-olds at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Driven by Tim Tetrick, Green Manalishi cleared Swandre The Giant (David Miller) for the top spot passing the 27 2/5 opening quarter. Green Manalishi and Tetrick then got away with a soft half of just 56 2/5, but Tetrick began to open up the throttle on his charge around the last turn and to the 1:24 three-quarters, gaining separation on the field, including Hambletonian winner Forbidden Trade (Bob McClure), who went first-up from third past the half, then ducked into a loose pocket on the final bend when Swandre The Giant lost his gait and went on a break.

In the stretch Green Manalishi still had an advantage on the others, but Pilot Discretion (Andrew McCarthy), who stayed on the outside going to three-quarters when Forbidden Trade went back to the cones, was closing strongly. The wire came up in time for Green Manalishi, though, as the Swedish-bred hit the wire half a length to the good. Pilot Discretion was a solid second, with Smart As Hill (Paul MacDonell) placed from fourth to third after the judges determined that Forbidden Trade had knocked Only For Justice (Chris Christoforou) off-stride in the closing yards and placed him from third to fifth. Only For Justice was elevated to fourth.

"That's a big honor. It just kind of fell into place and worked out really good. This horse has kind of been in the shadow of Greenshoe and Gimpanzee, but he's done really well, and he's made money. He won an elimination of the Hambletonian. He's a very qualified horse. He really likes this track. He gets around it good, and he likes to win here, so that's great.

"I wanted to get out of there and either sit really close or go ahead and cut it, but I didn't want to have to work too hard to do it. I wanted him to feel really brave going down the backside. I went a little faster in the third quarter to get a little separation on them. Down by the wire it was getting close, but my horse held on good. He never wins by too many."

Marcus Melander, who won two New York Sire Stakes finals earlier on the night at Batavia Downs, trains Green Manalishi, a Muscle Hill colt, for owner Courant Inc. This was Green Manalishi's tenth career win, including his elimination and the final of the William Wellwood Memorial at Woodbine Mohawk Park last year, and he has now pocketed C$1,248,383. He was the 6-5 favorite and paid $4.60 to win.