Woodbine Mohawk Park: Pilot Discretion prevails in Goodtimes, remains undefeated

Pilot Discretion delivered as the favorite in North America Cup night's first six-figure stakes race at Woodbine Mohawk Park, the C$247,000 Goodtimes for 3-year-old male trotters, overcoming some traffic to get up and win in 1:52 4/5, running his record to six wins from six opportunities.

Driven by Andrew McCarthy, Pilot Discretion tucked fourth early, but his position wound up being fifth at the 27 3/5 opening quarter, as a parked-out Knight Angel (Sylvain Filion) pressed on from post ten to challenge leader Swandre The Giant (Yannick Gingras). Gingras elected to leave Knight Angel on the outside, and so while he was being pressured, Swandre The Giant was able to steal a half in just 56 2/5. Southwind Avenger (Trevor Henry) came out to follow Knight Angel from second-over at that point, with Pilot Discretion stacked up third-over.

Swandre The Giant remained in charge at the 1:24 3/5 three-quarters, but Southwind Avenger and Pilot Discretion were both fanning out three-wide at that point, with McCarthy swinging Pilot Discretion out four-wide for the drive. Despite the excess cover and tepid fractions, Pilot Discretion was full of trot in the lane, and a 27 2/5 final quarter got him to the wire first by half a length. Forbidden Trade (Bob McClure) split foes from the pocket and was a solid second, and Super Schissel (Scott Zeron), who followed the winner's every move from fourth-over, wound up third. Swandre The Giant faded to fourth, and Southwind Avenger was fifth.

"I got away fourth there, and Yannick wasn't going much up front," said McCarthy. "I was kind of thinking about getting ready to move, and Sylvain was out there, and it looked like he was going to come pretty hard, so I thought that'll work. I just wanted either me to go or things to mix up. And then I had a little trouble seeing down the back, I was looking to see if Sylvain made it or not, and I ended up third-over, but it worked out. This horse loves a target, and he gets the job done.

"He's the type of horse, once he clears, then he's like okay, we'll just chill out here. You have to remind him after he clears. He kept trotting and he went on. He could see those horses, and he just got the job done."

Tony Alagna trains Pilot Discretion, a Muscle Hill colt, for owners Robert LeBlanc, David Anderson, and John Fodera. Pilot Discretion has now earned C$164,500 to go with his unblemished record, and he paid $3.00 to win.

"Sometimes a guy wants to head out of there, and another time you're going to be in a spot where you've got to take off," Alagna stated about his colt's versatility in racing style. "With these kind of races for that kind of money, nobody's just going line up one through ten. It's always nice to have a little activity because he is much better with a target. That makes him so nice because he can do it either way.

"I always think it's amazing that any colt that was so lightly-raced at two can come back and step right into this level. The owners and I have talked about all the way. We always said that we hoped our first stakes race would be the Goodtimes because it would be a nice flow into the stakes company without having to take on all the top, top colts like Greenshoe and Gimpanzee right off the bat. So far it's working out well."

While Pilot Discretion avoided some of the big fish in the division in the Goodtimes, that will be changing in the next couple weeks as the Beal at Pocono will be next, as long as no issues arise coming out of tonight's race.

"We'll see how he comes out it, but the Beal is probably what we'll do next," remarked Alagna. "That puts us into a little bit deeper water, but he's raced enough now where it's time. We have to keep hoping that this horse keeps going forward. I'm defintely not thinking I'm going to go out and beat Greenshoe next week in the Beal, but I think that the horse has got enough experience in racing now that it's time to throw him into a little deeper waters and see where he fits."

For LeBlanc, who now resides in Austin, Texas, but is a native of Canada, the victory in the Goodtimes was quite meaningful.

"I originally am from Canada, so being able to come here with a horse like Pilot Discretion and win this race means something special," he offered. "I've watched the Goodtimes for years and years. Being even part of it was great. The team has done a great job, and I'm along for the ride. This is a lot of fun. The Hambletonian is a bucket list item. If you have a horse that can compete in the Hambo, as an owner, that's the ultimate. I'm looking forward to it. He's shown us he can do it."