Woodbine Mohawk Park: Rookie trotters tussle in Pure Ivory, Millard Farms finals
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Woodbine Mohawk Park played host to a pair of Grade 3 events for 2-year-old trotters on Friday night, with the fillies in the C$168,000 Pure Ivory final and the boys in the C$155,000 Millard Farms final.
In the Pure Ivory, Rebel Moon (James MacDonald) led to the 28 1/5 opening quarter, let Cold Breeze (Travis Henry) clear to the top past that station, and then re-moved on the way to the 58 3/5 half. Treasure King (Jody Jamieson) followed the move of her Carl Jamieson stablemate Rebel Moon and became the third leader on the final bend before she went on to three-quarters in 1:27 1/5.
MacDonald swung Rebel Moon to the outside to go after Treasure King in the stretch, and after a brief tussle, Rebel Moon went around Treasure King before she pulled away to a 2 3/4 length triumph in 1:55 2/5. Treasure King had to settle for second and Tic Tac Fashion (Doug McNair) collected third.
"She's a little gem - great gait, perfect manners," MacDonald said. "She gets a little flighty sometimes, but she's got her tail up, feeling sharp every time she's out there. She's just a pleasure to drive."
A daughter of Muscle Mass, Rebel Moon is trained by Jamieson for owners Sarah Anthon and Ellen Ott. She has three wins in five starts, has earned C$136,150 and paid $10.20 to win.
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The Millard Farms final saw Detonater Hanover (Tyler Moore) brush from third to first past the 27 2/5 quarter. After he got control Detonater Hanover went on to hit the half in 57 seconds and the three-quarters in 1:26 before he came home in 27 3/5 to defeat a closing Three Six Zero (Jody Jamieson) by three-quarters of a length in 1:53 3/5. Access Now (Bob McClure) finished third.
"He's just a beautiful horse and he's growing into a handsome horse," remarked winning trainer Dr. Ian Moore. "From the get-go he was my favorite all winter. I went with him myself all winter practically exclusively, save a day or two maybe. He got kind of hot on me at one time, but then settled down. When I brought him home here to Canada, I don't know if it was the cold weather or what, but he got really hot on me and hard to control.
"My son Tyler helped me with the horse, which is why he's here driving him tonight. He helped me train him down. I thought he was a good fit for the horse, so it's worked out well, and it's nice to have a family affair."
Also by Muscle Mass, Detonater Hanover Stable owns the Dr. Moore trainee. He has a summary of 2-1-0 from four appearances, has banked C$136,530 and returned $3.30 to win as the favorite.