Woodbine Mohawk Park: Millionaire status for Nijinsky, Its A Love Thing

Grand Circuit stars Nijinsky and Its A Love Thing faced Ontario-sired company in their respective C$150,000 Gold Mid-Season finals for 3-year-old pacers on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park and both came through with victories and went over the C$1 million mark in their racing careers.

North America Cup winner Nijinsky (Louis Roy) rushed from fourth at the 26 4/5 quarter to first before the 55 1/5 half in the event for colts and geldings. From there, Nijinsky kept command through three-quarters in 1:23 3/5 before he used a 26 4/5 final kicker to keep pocket-sitter Storm Shadow (Bob McClure) at bay by a length and a quarter in a 1:50 2/5 mile. Crush Kill Destroy (Doug McNair) rounded out the trifecta at 109-1.

"That was pretty good. By the half there, I was already really confident," remarked Roy. "On paper I feel like there was a little gap between him, maybe Storm Shadow, and the other horses, and that's pretty much what happened on the track. He's just a gentleman. I just let the dust settle a little bit there in the first turn, and whenever they were going to slow down a little bit, I had him to put to work. He just responds really well.

"It's early in the season, so I feel like an effort like here tonight is kind of good for him. We used him pretty hard the last two weeks. Here he didn't have to work too hard I would say. That might keep him sharp for the rest of the year."

A son of Bettor's Delight bred by Jeff Snyder, Nijinsky is trained by Tony Beaton for owners West Wins Stable, John Fielding and Mark Dumain. This was his eighth win from 18 career starts, he has earned C$1,044,082 and paid $2.10 to win as the 1-9 choice.

"He's kind of an easy keeper himself. We've just got to make sure that he's sound and healthy and that and just keep moving forward," offered Beaton. "We'll see how he comes out of this race, but that's definitely on the radar - the Cane - and there's a race in Cleveland possibly. We don't know for sure where we're going to head, but we'll discuss that."

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The race for the fillies was a wild one from start to finish. Lightning Lizzie (Brett MacDonald), Greatest Pleasure (Roy) and Coco Jo Jo (Tyler Borth) dueled three-wide early before Greatest Pleasure backed off and allowed Lightning Lizzie and Coco Jo Jo to slug it out past a 26 2/5 quarter. Roy then moved Greatest Pleasure to the point out of third before the 53 3/5 half went on the board, and Odds On Platinum (Sylvain Filion) was then sent first-over from fourth, giving cover to Dave Menary trainees Its A Love Thing (James MacDonald) and Pass Line (Doug McNair).

Odds On Platinum and Greatest Pleasure were side-by-side at the 1:21 4/5 three-quarters, but Odds On Platinum sustained her uncovered bid and forged her way into the lead in the upper part of the stretch. Its A Love Thing vaulted off Odds On Platinum's cover, though, and she hit the front with about an eighth to go. Pass Line had a good late kick, as well, but Its A Love Thing had the jump and prevailed by half a length over her stablemate in 1:49 2/5. Odds On Platinum checked in third.

"I was just ecstastic (about the battling up front)," said MacDonald. "I mentioned to Dave before, I said 'we're probably going to have to rough it first-up again. Everyone's going to be looking for her,' but that's the thing, you put some money on the line, you just never know how the race is going to go. Fortunately it worked out terrifc today and we didn't have to go right to the well with her because it's a long year.

"She's unbelievable. She's got a never-ending amount of try. When the race is close, that's when you get her best effort. I'm just so proud of her. I can't say enough good about her. I love her to death."

Its A Love Thing, a Bettor's Delight filly bred by Marvin and Lynn Katz and Al Libfeld, is trained by Menary for owners Eric Good, Thomas Biederman, Josh Green and Rich Lombardo Racing LLC. This was her 11th lifetime victory, she has put away C$1,068,974 and returned $2.20 to win as the 1-9 favorite.

"She just keeps proving it week in and week out. Hopefully we can keep the ball rolling. It's a long time until the end of the year, but right now I'm pretty proud of the way things are going," remarked Menary. "Earlier in the year, if these fillies weren't one-two, it was almost like not a win. Hopefully we can turn it back into that.

"We'll play it by ear (with the schedule). Pass Line has done a lot of traveling over the last month, so we'll come up with a plan with the connections. Its A Love Thing, she's dual-eligible, so we plan on hitting up the first Kentucky Sires Stakes, and we'll go from there."