Woodbine Mohawk Park: 'Ocean' looks to take the Wellwood final field by 'Storm'

For young trainer Cam Capone the conditions at Woodbine Mohawk Park have been ideal. Last year he brought Madden Oaks to Ontario and the sophomore was dazzling in the North America Cup and fought valiantly but came up a tad short of Louprint's stunning performance. So, when Capone showed up with Ocean Storm for last week's William Wellwood, it was worth taking notice. Much like Madden Oaks, Ocean Storm had but one career start, and that was in an Excelsior leg of the New York Sire Stakes at Tioga. Taking on the best in North America in the Wellwood appeared something out of reach.

Ocean Storm, a son of Chapter Seven, stepped his game up in a major way, closing stoutly in the final strides and narrowly missing second in the faster of the two C$30,000 Wellwood eliminations contested on August 21. That put him squarely in the final for Saturday's C$570,000 Grade 1 Wellwood Memorial, part of a stakes-laden program.

For Capone, the mission last fall was practical. "I was looking for just one trotter," Capone said. "Since we're based in New York, I wanted a horse that could compete on the Sire Stakes and that meant one by Chapter Seven."

Capone knew well that he would not be alone in his quest to find a son or daughter of Chapter Seven given the stallion's enormous popularity and the lure of six-figure prices and beyond.

"I looked through the catalog and didn't go to look at horses early in the sale that I knew would be out of reach," said Capone.

Ocean Storm was HIP number 487 at the Lexington Selected sale, and that placement gave Capone the time necessary to inspect the colt. "I must have gone to look at him about 15 times," Capone said, recalling the experience. "I watched his video and I think he must've trotted an eighth in 14 seconds in the field."

The colt was purchased for $90,000.

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Ocean Storm was pointed for the New York Sire Stakes, but his schedule and the stakes schedule did not align. A pair of qualifiers in July and early August resulted in breaks in stride, frustrating considering how well the colt had trained down.

"We had the trotting hopples on him, and we found out he traveled much better without them than with them," said Capone.

Without the hopples Ocean Storm trotted cleanly through a 1:57 1/5 qualifier at Tioga Downs on August 9 and then made his debut a week later. The result was an off-the-pace 1:56 3/5 victory with Brett Beckwith guiding him to victory.

"That race wasn't as easy as it looked on paper," said Capone of the race action that forced Beckwith to check Ocean Storm a few times due to traffic concerns before letting him trot on his own to the wire.

James MacDonald picked up the drive and needed only a fifth-place finish in his Wellwood elimination race. MacDonald got away fifth in the early stages as the more-seasoned Detonater Hanover and Top Reacher made aggressive moves, exchanging the lead through testy fractions. As that pair dueled through the stretch, MacDonald found an opening, angling wide in the stretch and narrowing the gap impressively in the final yards. Given the colt's lack of experience, that move could have been costly, but Ocean Storm kept his stride and finished with power.

MacDonald also piloted Free Scottie for the powerful Melander stable in the other elimination and opted off Capone's charge for the final. The move cleared that path for a new driver, and Capone was happy that Yannick Gingras was available.

"I couldn't be happier with the draw and the driver," Capone said, expressing confidence that post six would give his horse and driver the options they need.

Unlike last year's North America Cup, Capone's challenge in the Wellwood will come on multiple fronts, with trainer Melander sending out three of the 10 horses on the starting gate in Saturday's ninth race. Gios Hope (post three) got things his own way in a 1:54 2/5 victory in his Wellwood trial, and Dexter Dunn remains in the bike behind this son of Chapter Seven. Gios Hope has won three of his four career starts. Top Reacher (post five) made multiple moves for Dunn in the other Wellwood elimination and came up short on the wire, trotting a 1:52 3/5 mile in the process. A son of Muscle Hill with a 1:54 mark taken in a Kentucky Championship Series leg at The Red Mile on August 3, Top Reacher picks up Scott Zeron for the steer. Zeron was behind the 2025 Wellwood victor Ardonne as well.

Free Scottie (post eight) raced far off the action in his elimination and trotted an impressive last quarter for MacDonald, hitting high gear to the tune of 26 4/5 for the final fraction. The Walner-sired colt has yet to win in five career starts.

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Dr. Ian Moore has been known for his incredible success with pacers but finds himself in an unfamiliar spot on Saturday with Detonater Hanover (post two), a colt worthy of favoritism in the Wellwood. Detonater Hanover showed high speed leaving and then popped the pocket early for driver Tyler Moore, prevailing following a prolonged stretch duel. A 1:52 3/5 clocking was the fastest of three wins for Detonater Hanover, a son of Muscle Mass, this year.

Trainer Luc Blais is always a fixture in major trotting races, and he qualified a pair for the final, with Access Now (post one) and Data Breach (post seven) likely outsiders in the field of 10. Access Now is a $200,000 Harrisburg purchase and half-brother to Blais' successful Private Access. Data Brach is the fourth foal from Blais' $1.7 million winner Emoticon Hanover and first colt by Muscle Hill, making him a brother to the $582K winner Drawn Impression.

No eliminations were required for the Milton Stakes for open pacing mares, but supplemental entry Francent N will make her Woodbine Mohawk Park debut on the same Saturday night card against many of the Milton horses in a C$50,000 Open Pace. Pat Lachance trained and drove the imported mare at Yonkers in her first efforts in North America before sending the mare to Ontario on Wednesday (August 26).

"I don't know if she's in the class with Twin B Joe Fresh," Lachance said. "But she's not going to embarrass herself."

Francent N scored in 1:51 4/5 over the Yonkers half-mile track in an Invitational on August 21, helping ownership make the decision to supplement a little easier. As far as where Francent N will fit against the top mares, Saturday's contest will give fans a first chance to decide, with Twin B Joe Fresh (post one) and Louies Girl N (post five) landing inside Francent N from post seven in the nine-mare field carded as race three.

The Saturday program also features a pair of Eternal Camnation races for 2-year-old pacing fillies, two Nassagaweya events for the male rookie pacers, two eliminations for the Canadian Pacing Derby and the co-featured C$425,000 Peaceful Way final for 2-year-old filly trotters.

On Friday, a pair of Maple Leaf Trot eliminations will be contested with names like Super Chapter, Lexus Kody and Antognoni in action.

Post time for Friday is 6:30 P.M. (EDT) and Saturday is 6:45 P.M. Saturday's card also features a mandatory payout in the Jackpot Hi-5.