Woodbine Mohawk Park: Whelan hopes his patience pays off in Friday series finals

Trainer Walter Whelan has had a philosophy purchasing his horses that has proven successful over time. The veteran conditioner has bought inexpensive yearlings with the hope of giving them enough time to develop.

"There's less pressure," said Whelan. "If you spend a lot you try to get it back as quickly as possible."

With that said, Whelan's horses have gotten better with age, and while missing some of the big money at 2 and 3 years of age, they find themselves better positioned for success into their 4-year-old seasons. On Friday night Whelan has three such horses entered in a pair of series finals on Woodbine Mohawk Park's 11-race card, with the Always B Miki-sired gelding A Class Yankee likely his best chance at success in the C$40,000 Showshoe final (race 10).

"His whole family tends to get a bit stronger as they get older," said Whelan while on the track training one of the 50 he currently has in his stable. "His older brother Yankee Clout was the same way."

Whelan's affection for this maternal family is deep. After paying $7,000 for Yankee Clout, he upped the bid a year later and plucked A Class Yankee for $12,000. In 2023, C C Yankee - the first filly from the dam - was purchased for a hefty $25,000 by Whelan's connections, with the daughter from the first crop of Papi Rob Hanover making just a few starts in her freshman season in 2024.

A Class Yankee raced competitively on the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes circuit in 2024 and was getting better towards the end of the campaign, so Whelan put him in a few late closers over the winter at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The results have been encouraging, as the gelding captured the Valedictory final at Woodbine Mohawk on December 26, overcoming post 10 in the process. Following a few weeks off, A Class Yankee began his 4-year-old season with a solid second-place finish (again with post 10) behind one of Friday's possible favorites G A Speed Expert.

With a better post in last week's (January 24) second leg of the Snowshoe, A Class Yankee rallied from sixth at the three-quarter pole to victory, setting him up nicely for the final.

"We had trouble keeping him healthy last year," said Whelan of the 3-year-old season that saw A Class Yankee earn a shade under six-figures in just 17 starts. A Class Yankee dipped his toes in the top tier Pennsylvania Sire Stakes program, and as his trainer suggested, appeared to be finding his best footing towards the end of that series. A Class Yankee was just a neck behind Timeisonmyside in the final Sire Stakes prelim at The Meadows on August 30 in a mile time of 1:49 3/5. It was that kind of effort that led the gelding to race in the Breeders Crown trials at the Meadowlands in late October, a race he finished sixth in after pacing a final quarter in 26 1/5.

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A Class Yankee, the 2-1 morning-line choice with Michael Whelan in the bike, is rapidly gaining confidence, and Whelan is looking forward to Friday night and beyond.

"He'll get a break after the race on Friday and then we'll bring him back later," said Whelan. "We're definitely going to stake him."

Whelan has another horse in the Snowshoe final in Gansbaai, a gelded son of Downbytheseaside that cost but $11,000 as a yearling.

"He hasn't been finishing up the way we'd like to see," said Whelan of Gansbaai. With post seven on Friday, he'll need some racing luck.

G A Speed Expert (5-2) has been strong in both legs of the Snowshoe, but he too may need a bit of racing luck starting from post 10 in Friday's feature. The 4-year-old by Sportswriter won half of his 16 starts as a 3-year-old and looks for the biggest payday of his career in the finale.

Whelan is hoping for his own kind of racing luck with Space Cadebt in the C$37,000 Blizzard Series final carded as race eight on Friday night.

"The rail is a tough place to start from," said Whelan, "but it's better than post 10."

Space Cadebt enters the final with a pair of third-place finishes in the prelims to her credit. A filly by Betting Line that was highly thought of as a 2-year-old and raced in the Three Diamonds elimination, Speed Cadebt didn't progress as expected.

"It wasn't the kind of year we thought she would have," said Whelan.

Space Cadebt did win a couple of races in the fall at Pocono and reached the Niagara Series final at Woodbine Mohawk Park in December.

Perhaps post position will pay off for Whelan as his charge tackles Oh A Legend, a daughter of Bit Of A Legend N who drew post nine in the field of 10. Oh A Legend swept through the preliminaries with open-length victories for trainer Chris Bush and driver Tyler Borth. She was made the 4-5 morning-line choice.

The 11-race Woodbine Mohawk Park card begins at 6:30 p.m. (EST) on Friday.