Woodbine Mohawk Park: Warrawee Vital steps up in Simcoe

Until Saturday night Warrawee Vital was best known as a half-sibling to some fast and talented horses, including last Saturday's Roses Are Red champion Warrawee Ubeaut, but he got some attention of his own after an eye-catching 1:49 1/5 win in the first of two Simcoe Stakes splits for 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Tattoo Artist, the runner-up in the Pepsi North America Cup, grabbed the other division.

Driven by Trevor Henry in the first C$85,506 flight, Warrawee Vital yielded for the pocket behind favored Beaumond Hanover (Jody Jamieson) after the 27 second opening quarter. Beaumond Hanover continued on the front to a 54 4/5 half and a 1:22 3/5 three-quarters, but Henry angled out two-wide in the lane with his horse, and Warrawee Vital went past Beaumond Hanover in a flash. After that, Warrawee Vital ran up the score, pulling away to a 4 1/4 length win over Beaumond Hanover, with Mayhem Hanover (Doug McNair) back in third.

Warrawee Vital won two legs and was second in the final of the Snowshoe Series back in January but then had to be shut down until early August. He took a shot in the North America Cup eliminations off two qualifiers and an overnight race, but wasn't sharp enough for that type of race and finished eighth. He came back in a NW4 event on August 28 and ripped off a 1:49 mile before this victory.

"Around the first part of March he went sore. We had to do some CT scans, MRIs, X-rays, over and over to find out and get a proper diagnosis," said trainer Rob Fellows. "After we found it, we treated him and kept him in the pool to keep him half-fit. We didn't really get enough starts in him for the North America Cup. It was a local and we took a shot and a wish. These are the two starts I would have loved to have had before that. He's a nice horse. I don't know if he's that type of horse, but we'll keep going week-to-week.

"Beaumond's a great horse, and he likes the front-end, but when Trevor moved him over, he paced good. Last week he was on the front-end, and horses can go a long way when unchallenged on the front-end, but today he beat a good horse."

Blair Corbeil, Yolanda Fellows, and M&S Racing Stable Inc. own Warrawee Vital, a Captaintreacherous colt. Out of the Apaches Fame mare Great Memories, he's a half-brother to not only Warrawee Ubeaut, but also millionaire Warrawee Needy, who paced in 1:46 4/5 at the Meadowlands in 2013, and to Big Bay Point, who banked over half a million and took a mark of 1:49. Warrawee Vital now has a record of 6-2-0 from ten starts, has banked C$102,253, and paid $6.10 to win.

Tattoo Artist (Bob McClure) led all the way in the other C$84,506 grouping, rolling through stations of 26 2/5, 54 4/5, and 1:22 2/5 on his way to a half-length victory. Captain Barbossa (Louis-Philippe Roy) rallied well from second-over for runner-up honors, and Rhythm In Motion (Sylvain Filion) also closed quickly in the lane for third.

"He gets pretty cocky up there," remarked McClure. "He's extremely fast off the gate, so that gives you a lot of options as a driver. When you're 1-5 or 4-5, and you've got that kind of gate speed, you kind of want of keep them out of trouble and you want them forwardly-placed, but like last week, when you're longer odds, it gives you the option to leave out and find a trip behind the best horse."

Dr. Ian Moore trains Tattoo Artist, a colt by He's Watching, for owners Frank Cannon and Let It Ride Stables Inc. Tattoo Artist picked up his 11th win from 17 career appearances, pushed his earnings to C$694,478, and returned $3.70 to win as the favorite.