Woodbine Mohawk Park: Jimmy Freight downs McWicked, other talented foes in Mohawk Gold Cup

Jimmy Freight knocked off defending Horse of the Year McWicked and seven other classy rivals in the C$100,000 Mohawk Gold Cup Invitational for older pacing males on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The final time was 1:48 1/5, a new lifetime mark.

With Louis-Philippe Roy calling the shots, Jimmy Freight got away second to the 26 4/5 opening quarter that was laid down by Nirvana Seelster (Trevor Henry). Roy didn't want the pocket, though, and he popped Jimmy Freight to the outside past that mark. Jimmy Freight would go on to hit the half in 54 4/5, and McWicked (Brian Sears) was flushed out first-over from the third spot at that point.

McWicked was unable to reach Jimmy Freight around the far turn, as three-quarters went up on the board in 1:21 2/5, and Jimmy Freight just kept going in the lane, kicking home in 26 4/5 to win by a length and three-quarters. Nirvana Seelster wound up second, and McWicked had to settle for third. Physicallyinclined (Jonathan Drury) picked up a fourth-place check, and The Wall (Joe Bongiorno) got fifth.

"My strategy was going to go a little bit with what McWicked was doing," said Roy. "Having him right behind me, I wanted him to come first-up on me. I know that he's good that way too, but I imagined that was how the trip was going to go to have to beat him. Even if I thought that McWicked would be really hard to beat, I thought that was the best way to beat him tonight.

"It wasn't until the middle of the stretch I said I think we're there. I've driven McWicked, and he'll still be gapping a few lengths, but in the stretch he'll be like all power. I wasn't sure around the last turn, but all the credit goes to my horse. On the last turn he wanted to go by himself when he heard that horse coming. He was feeling so strong, and he never wanted him to get to his wheel."

Roy went on to say that he hasn't really seen anything different about Jimmy Freight from age three to age four, but that doesn't bother him at all.

"I don't see many changes in him, and I didn't want any changes because he was perfect last year," he stated. "He does everything right. He looks in shape, last year a little bit at the end of the year he got tired from traveling. Now I think he's at the peak of his form."

Richard Moreau trains Jimmy Freight, a 4-year-old son of Sportswriter, for owner Adriano Sorella. This was Jimmy Freight's 19th career victory, and he has now earned C$1,158,146. A 9-2 shot, Jimmy Freight paid $11.90 to win.

"I said we're facing McWicked, and I know absolutely everybody absolutely loves McWicked," remarked Sorella. "He's a great horse, and there were some really, really nice horses in that field. Thinkbig Dreambig is good, and The Wall is real good. I just said he is what he is. We know he's got a massive heart, he races all the time, and he tries every time he goes out there. His record speaks for itself - what is it, 39 starts and 37 times top three, and the other two times fourth-place finishes? He's a gutsy horse. He just does everything that we ask him to. I'm as happy as I can be.

"I think we're probably going to try and hit the last Graduate, and try to get some points from there. We're going to take it one day at a time."