Four-year-old pacers were in action in the Graduate Series on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Males raced in a pair of C$62,500 divisions, while mares faced off in one C$50,000 tilt. Todd McCarthy would win the second flight for horses and geldings with Carbine and the mares event with Oakwoodanabella IR. Carbine, coming off a 1:49 3/5 victory in the Graduate on May 7 at the Meadowlands and then a life's-best 1:47 4/5 performance over that oval last Saturday, charged out from the outside post eight and took command from Bettors Donttell (Doug McNair) before the 26 3/5 opening quarter. Carbine would then get to the half in 54 3/5, but Linedrive Hanover (James MacDonald), who won the Charles Juravinski Memorial Cup final at Flamboro Downs in his most recent appearance, had moved out first-over from fifth in the backstretch and began to challenge Carbine coming to that marker. On the last turn Carbine and Linedrive Hanover threw down and matched strides, with Carbine able to keep Linedrive Hanover on the rim through three-quarters in 1:21 1/5 and into the lane. Watching that from second-over was One Eight Hundred (Dexter Dunn), and Bettors Donttell was also in contention from the pocket. Linedrive Hanover dropped back a bit late on the final bend, and while Carbine continued to show the way, McCarthy began to call on him. Despite the battle and One Eight Hundred and Bettors Donttell having every chance to go by the remainder of the drive, Carbine would not yield and held sway to prevail by a neck in 1:49. One Eight Hundred was the runner-up, Bettors Donttell finished third, and Linedrive Hanover had to settle for fourth. "He's got a lot of bottom to him, and I think he really showed that there tonight. He was tired at the top of the stretch, but he dug to fight them off," said McCarthy. "His last couple of runs have been really big, and he seems to be maturing more and more and getting stronger at the same time. He's a very exciting horse to sit behind. "I was kind of worried there. [Linedrive Hanover] kind of got there pretty late, and I figured it was best to stay on top at that stage. Around the turn there, I just had to nurse him a little bit, but when he straightened out, he really dug deep for me and fought on." A 4-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere, Carbine is trained by Tony Alagna for co-owner/breeder Let It Ride Stables Inc. and co-owners Bottom Line Racing LLC. and Howard Taylor. Carbine is now a ten-time winner from 20 career starts, and he has now pocketed C$139,542. The 2-1 second choice, he paid $6.00 to win. "I jogged him one day, so I didn't screw him up that day, and he was good tonight," joked Alagna's mom Donna Lee, who runs the Canadian division of the Alagna Armada. "All four of the horses that raced tonight are going back to New Jersey on Monday morning, and then we have eight new ones coming on Tuesday." Things were much less dramatic for McCarthy in the mares test, as Oakwoodanabella IR raced on a loose lead through fractions of 27 1/5, 55 2/5, and 1:22 4/5 on her way to a 2 1/4 length tally in 1:50 2/5. Fire Start Hanover (Dunn), making her first pari-mutuel start of the year, closed well and finished second, and Awesome Hill (Trevor Henry) got third. "It looked pretty easy to me. I didn't get a chance to talk to Todd too much, but he said she got away a little and was kind of looking around, which some horses do. As soon as they get close, she'll just pace right off," remarked winning trainer Brian Brown. "She's just been nothing but a perfect little horse to have. She was really good last year, but she's better this year. "We'll stick with the 4-year-olds as much as we can. She has some of the races with the older mares. I didn't come here to the Roses Are Red. I'm in most everything after that, but she's just four, and I didn't want to overdo it too early in the year." Denis Copse owns Oakwoodanabella IR, a daughter of Foreclosure N. She has compiled a record of 13-3-2 from 18 lifetime tries, and she has now banked C$177,644. She returned $2.50 to win as the 1-5 favorite. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Bulldog Hanover (Jody Jamieson) bounced back after a tough trip and a fourth-place finish in the Juravinski Memorial Cup final to win the other battle for the boys in 1:49 2/5. Positioned third at the 27 second opening quarter, Jamieson moved Bulldog Hanover to top prior to the 55 3/5 half. Bulldog Hanover then hit three-quarters in 1:23 and used a 26 2/5 last quarter to fend off a first-over Abuckabett Hanover (McCarthy) by a length and three-quarters. American Courage (Matt Kakaley) was third. "I just thought I'd get to the front as early as possible and get the traffic out of the way," stated Jamieson. "He's just such a great horse that I knew it was no problem getting back to the lead, and even if we had to race a little bit for it, it would have been on. It wasn't, and he won pretty handily." Trainer Jack Darling also co-owns Bulldog Hanover, a son of Shadow Play, with Brad Grant. Bulldog Hanover made his 16th appearance in the winner's circle, and he has put away C$994,941. He paid $5.70 to win as the favorite. "Just really happy with the trip and the way he raced. He's a very tough horse, and he bounced back. He's got the Graduate [at the Meadowlands] and then there's a couple of other big ones that he's got there," offered Darling. "He's got a busy schedule the whole summer. He's going all over the place. "He's breeding. He's got 80 mares this year. He's still going this week and next week, so he's busy."