Woodbine Mohawk Park: Venerate delivers in inaugural Mohawk Million

Kentucky Sires Stakes champion Venerate went into the book as the first winner of the Mohawk Million for 2-year-old trotters at Woodbine Mohawk Park, taking Saturday's C$1,320,000/US$1 million event in 1:53 2/5 for driver Andrew McCarthy and trainer Julie Miller.

Starting from a trailing post 10, Venerate didn't get away very quickly, landing in eighth, but that turned out to be a good spot to be as five horses - Full Of Muscles (Trevor Henry), Altar (Jody Jamieson), Tokyo Seelster (Sylvain Filion), On A Streak (Scott Young), and Insta Glam (Yannick Gingras) - all sped away from the gate. Tokyo Seelster and Insta Glam both relented and settled on the cones in fourth and fifth, respectively, before the 27 second opening quarter, which was put up by Altar as she was forging her way by Full Of Muscles. William Wellwood Memorial champion On A Streak remained two-wide, though, and he would press on to take over control in the backstretch.

Gingras and Insta Glam made a second move going towards the 56 1/5 half as they were out and on the move from fifth, and Insta Glam came with a rush that carried her into the lead on the final turn. When Insta Glam crossed over, that left favorite and undefeated Donna Soprano (Bob McClure) first-up and Venerate second-over, and they would remain that way as Insta Glam rolled through three-quarters in 1:24.

That quick third quarter caught up to Insta Glam in the lane, and a rallying Donna Soprano pounced, zipping past her in upper stretch, but McCarthy had already angled Venerate, and he loomed a menacing presence to Donna Soprano's outside. Donna Soprano dug in gamely and made Venerate work for it to the wire, but she just didn't have enough to hold on as Venerate surged by to take the decision by three-parts of a length. On A Streak wound up third, followed by Insta Glam, and Warrawee Whisper (Jonathan Drury).

"It feels amazing just to be involved in a race like this. It's an incredible event. I think it's important to hold races like this. It draws a lot of attention and hopefully it hangs around for next year," said McCarthy. "I was hoping I would get out of there a little closer, but after scoring him down, I knew that I couldn't make him accelerate too fast, so I just wanted to get out of there upright. I knew that he's a very strong horse, I've seen that. I didn't really care how far back I got. I just figured I'd have to get through that first turn, and then worry about where I'm going from there. The speed was pretty tough early, so it worked out where I could end up getting a pretty good trip. When I looked up at the eighth pole, I was a long way back."

This was McCarthy's second victory in a US$1 million race in 2020, joining his Hambletonian triumph with Ramona Hill. Despite the good run he's been on, Saturday night wasn't working out the best for him up until the Mohawk Million, having been disqualified out of the win in the She's A Great Lady to go with a disappointing performance from favored Abuckabett Hanover in the Metro. McCarthy had the race off before the Mohawk Million, though, and made some alterations that changed his fortunes for the better.

"I've said it before, my parents put a very can-do attitude into all us boys, and they make us believe in ourselves. Heading into all these races, I think I can win them," McCarthy remarked. "I want to give myself the best chance. I'm just very fortunate.

"I was having a tough night tonight, but thank God I had the ninth race off. I got a chance - I went and changed my colors, changed my gloves, changed whatever I could change, and just got myself into the right mindset. I'm so thankful for Andy and Julie (Miller), Pinske Stables, and Brad (Grant) for deciding to use me on this horse. I'm very grateful."

Julie Miller trains Venerate, a Love You colt, for owners Pinske Stables and Andy Miller Stable Inc. Venerate has missed the board just once in seven tries (4-0-2 record), and he has stashed away C$848,766. Venerate, who was bred by Steve Stewart and Kemppi Stable, was hammered down for $90,000 at the 2019 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. He's the first foal out of the Muscle Hill mare Peaceful Kemp (2:02 4/5, $3,356), a full sister to Trixton (1:50 3/5, $947,057) and a half-sister to Impressive Kemp (Credit Winner, 1:54 3/5, $501,074). Venerate was the 2-1 second choice and paid $6.80 to win.

The slot used by Venerate was originally purchased by Brad Grant, but when he didn't have a horse available for the race, a deal was worked out with Venerate's connections, and the rest is history.

"It makes me look pretty smart, I guess. We really believed in this race when we bought our slot," said Grant. "What Woodbine Mohawk Park has done is something new. I think it's great. I think it had a buzz to it all year long. Everybody was watching how their colts were coming and their fillies. It's unfortunate our colt didn't get here, but I talked to Julie Miller and one quick conversation, we had a deal done. Just wonderful people to work with, and I'm happy it worked out for them and I'm really happy it worked out for us.

"I've now got some seed money, so I could take a run at it next year again."