Woodbine Mohawk Park: McClure takes two in Nassagaweya

The Nassagaweya for 2-year-old colt and gelding pacers on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park turned into the Bob McClure Show as he piloted Lawless Shadow and Abuckabett Hanover to wins in the pair of C$117,029 events.

In the first division McClure fired out with Lawless Shadow from the outside post nine and was in front through stations of 26 3/5, 56, and 1:24 2/5. Lawless Shadow had already put away a first-over move from favored Dean B Hanover (Jonathan Drury) by the time they entered the lane, but others had chances to try and chase him down through the stretch drive. They couldn't do it, though, as Lawless Shadow stayed game and in front to the wire, prevailing by half a length in 1:52 2/5. Ucanttouchthis (Chris Christoforou) rallied for second, and Candy Trader (Sylvain Filion) came on to get third.

While Lawless Shadow had some earlier misadventures on his way to this victory, this was definitely a big victory for trainer Dr. Ian Moore and his owners.

"I usually like to train them around 1:58 before I qualify them, and he trained in 1:58 fantastic off a half in a minute, but then we were going to train him one more time, and he started making breaks on me. I never had a baby that I trained in 1:58 so many times before I qualified him as him," said Dr. Moore. "I think he trained in 1:58 at least six times, which is why we were late qualifying him.

"After that, we had another incident, I think that was the second race. I was warming him up here, and the water truck was coming behind me, I was going the right way, and I went inside the pylons to let the water truck by, and the next time around in the warm-up he did the same thing, and he did the exact same thing in the race. I'd never seen anything like it. I stuck a murphy blind on the inside of him, and he seems to be all over that now.

"He's been a very nice colt right from the get-go. I told the partners I've been kind of high on him, so this is good to have tonight, for sure."

Moore also co-owns the victorious Shadow Play colt with partners R G McGroup Ltd., Serge Savard, and Frank Cannon. Lawless Shadow, who was bred by Seelster Farms Inc. and sold for C$52,000 at last year's London Selected Yearling Sale, has a record of 3-1-0 from five starts, and he has earned C$104,564. He's the fourth foal out of the Bettor's Delight mare Ladycino (1:52 1/5, $472,235) and paid $15.00 to win as a 6-1 offering.

The other section saw Perfectboy Hanover (James MacDonald) move around Bettor Sun (Doug McNair) for control after the 26 3/5 opening quarter, but McNair re-moved to the front before the 55 3/5 half. Bettor Sun continued on to three-quarters in 1:24 1/5, giving the cold shoulder to a first-up Island Beach Boy (Filion), but Abuckabett Hanover and McClure were second-over waiting to strike at that marker, and strike they did in the lane, rallying by the leaders on the way to a one length decision in 1:52 1/5. No Better Joy (Louis-Philippe Roy) went from seventh to second in the final quarter, and Bettor Sun salvaged third.

"I actually went by the farm there and trained him during the week, I guess Wednesday, so I got a feel for him," remarked McClure. "I got a feel for him being safe and handy. He's still a little green, but extremely fast and willing. He's got the potential to have a really bright future, so that's fun."

From the first crop of Betting Line, Abuckabett Hanover is trained by Tony Alagna for owners Barbera Stable, Jablonsky Held Stable, Joe Deguara, and Alagna And Inthegym. Abuckabett Hanover, bred by Hanover Shoe Farms Inc., was a $160,000 acquisition at the 2019 Standardbred Horse Sale and now has two wins, a second, and a third from four efforts to go with a bankroll of C$98,355. Abuckabett Hanover is out of the Western Ideal mare All Tucked Up (1:52, $186,629), making him a half-brother to Attention Hanover (Somebeachsomewhere, 1:51 1/5, $194,845). Abuckabett Hanover was the favorite and returned $5.10 to win.