Woodbine Mohawk Park: Records galore for Maryland in Mohawk Million

Maryland was off the gate at the start and wasn't tight on cover around the last turn until just before three-quarters, but in the stretch it was smooth sailing, as the William Wellwood and Peter Haughton Memorial champion added Saturday night's C$1 million Mohawk Million for 2-year-old trotters at Woodbine Mohawk Park to his quickly-growing list of accomplishments. The final time of 1:52 3/5 was a Canadian, track and stakes record.

Go Ahead Makemyday (David Miller) was fired up behind the gate in post three to Maryland's outside, and that seemed to bother Maryland (Dexter Dunn) as he lost his action a bit behind the car and gapped by a couple of lengths as it pulled away, meaning he landed in the sixth position. Meanwhile, his Marcus Melander stablemate Meshuggah (Scott Zeron) had no issues as he darted to the front in a 27 1/5 quarter and then was unchallenged to the half in 56 2/5.

Lasting Dream (Bob McClure) began the outer flow by going first-up from fourth in the backstretch, and that gave cover to Monalishi (James MacDonald), a gapping Maryland and Emoticon Legacy (Louis-Philippe Roy). Torrisi (Yannick Gingras) also tipped out from the back of the pack but was wide on the final turn as Go Ahead Makemyday and Onajetplane (Andy McCarthy) got off the inside to get past a stopping Lookatmegoamigo (Jody Jamieson). Lookatmegoamigo retreating from the pocket also allowed McClure to slide down into the two-hole briefly on the last bend, but he was off the pylons again before Meshuggah got to three-quarters in 1:24 3/5.

In the lane Meshuggah was game off the sensible tempo and was able to fight off Lasting Dream to the outside, but Maryland, who had finally latched onto Monalishi's cover finally before entering the lane, was in full flight in the center of the track. He vaulted by Meshuggah and Lasting Dream inside the final eighth and then kicked away powerfully on his way to a 3 1/2 length victory. Lasting Dream finally got by Meshuggah late for second and Onajetplane, who didn't have smooth trip after being off the pylons on both the first and last turns, got up for fourth. Emoticon Legacy was fifth.

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"He was pretty aggressive tonight. He hasn't really been like that before. The horse outside me was pretty fired up on the gate, too, and there was a bit going on," Dunn offered. "We had a little bobble there before the gate left, but he luckily kept his gait. We still got away in a pretty decent position. Around the last turn I nearly lost him there for a bit. He gathered himself up, we got a good helmet in the straight and man, he exploded up the straight.

"I was happy enough (with the position). He's a high-speed horse, and the two horses that we were following up, they're good horses. I was still confident, especially coming off the last turn. I knew I was close enough."

A Chapter Seven colt bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, Maryland is trained by Marcus Melander for owners Courant Inc., Pcw Racing LLC., Holly Lane Stud East Ltd. and Sstewartrthorn Stable. Maryland has a summary of 4-1-1 from seven starts, has earned C$1,075,257 and paid $3.90 to win as the 4-5 favorite.

"Dexter said he was a little bit more aggressive tonight, but the last time Maryland was up here he made a break when he scored him down, so I wanted to see how he looked," remarked Melander. "He's probably the smartest colt I've been around. He wants to do his work. You never know how much the other horses have left, but if he has the position to win when they're turning for home, he'll win.

"Now we're going to ship him back home to New Jersey and prepare him for the Breeders Crown. Since he won last week at Hoosier, he's already eligible for the final, so that will be his next race probably. Maybe we'll do a qualifier in between, but that's what we're aiming for right now."

Steve Stewart of Hunterton Farms has been a successful breeder but is now finding his way to the winner's circle as an owner as well with the likes of Jiggy Jog and now Maryland.

"We've got some more races later this year, but he's an amazing horse," Stewart said. "We must congratulate the main guy here, Anders Strom. He picked him out and bought the horse and spent a lot of money for him. We were fortunate to join Anders and Courant in this wonderful race and with this wonderful horse."