By Ray Cotolo
Nowhere in North America will you get to watch a harness racing card that has two $1-million races on the same night, except for this Saturday (Sept. 21) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
The pair of seven-figure prize fights gather the most precocious horses in racing – 2-year-olds – to swiftly show their early strength and tenacity to have a career-making moment at the same age a baby person is still learning to walk.
First of the two is the Metro Pace, which will go as Race 7 on the 13-race card. Elimination winners Captain Optimistic and Fallout start as the morning-line favorites – Captain Optimistic at 9-5 off a gritty 1:50.2 win and Fallout off a pocket-shooting 1:49.3 upset. Nancy Takter trains Captain Optimistic, whose only loss this season has come from Papis Pistol (No. 6 in this race), as she tries for her second Metro Pace win after winning in 2019 with Tall Dark Stranger.
Fallout, a full-brother to Captain Kirk (eighth-place finisher to Tall Dark Stranger in the 2019 Metro), is one of a four-throng punch for trainer Tony Alagna. The other three Alagna pupils land the three outermost posts on the gate; Strangerinthenight from post 8, Blue Onyx from post 9 and Banderas from post 10. Both Strangerinthenight and Banderas, out of stakes-winning mares trained by Tony Alagna, offered late speed in their eliminations and stand as outside chances as they continue down a path where this race or stakes later in the year are clearly targets.
Swingtown will attempt to make amends from post 7 in the Metro final. The Downbytheseaside colt out of near-millionaire Swinging Beauty could not settle on the lead and came down the stretch on fumes to finish third to Fallout as the 2-5 favorite. Chris Page, one of Ohio’s leading drivers, stays in the bike for trainer Ron Burke as he tries to correct course off that single blemish on his otherwise lossless resume.
Another trainer looking to collect another Metro Pace title is Dr. Ian Moore, conditioner of Prince Hal Hanover. Moore, who has trained innumerable champions in his long career, only won the Metro for the first time in 2022 when Jody Jamieson piloted Stockade Seelster to a 1:50.1 win. Todd McCarthy drives Prince Hal Hanover from post 2 off a runner-up performance to Captain Optimistic, where he attempted to pounce past but was rebuffed in the lane.
The Mohawk Million, carded as Race 10, is unlike any stake inside of harness racing. Inspired by the Pegasus World Cup, the Mohawk Million fills with owners purchasing slots to race versus traditional staking, which requires scheduled payments per horse to maintain eligibility. This format creates unique fields with a broader range of talent than typical stakes, which fosters unforgettable moments including T C I’s seemingly impossible rally from a break in stride to win in 2023.
Marcus Melander again has one of the main players in the Mohawk Million. Winning the third edition of the “Million” with Oh Well in 2022, Melander returns with Maryland off back-to-back victories, one in the $575,000 William Wellwood Memorial and more recently in the $390,000 Peter Haughton at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Dexter Dunn drives the Chapter Seven colt out of stakes-winning mare Crucial as he tries to become a millionaire in just his seventh start on the racetrack.
Champion mare Emoticon Hanover sends another offspring in the Mohawk Million in Emoticon Legacy, a Luc Blais-trained Determination homebred by Walner. Emoticon Legacy will look to do better than his sibling Drawn Impression, who broke stride into the first turn of last year’s Mohawk Million. Louis-Philippe Roy drives Emoticon Legacy after he registered a come-from-behind 1:55.1 win in a $164,785 Champlain division last week.
Blake MacIntosh sends one of the three fillies entered in this race with Monalishi from post 4. Monalishi surprised in the $390,000 Peaceful Way final on Aug. 24, winning at odds of 11-1 in 1:52.2, and followed that with a 1:54.4 win as the odds-on choice in a Champlain division. James MacDonald drives the MacIntosh trainee.
Luc Blais sends one of the other fillies in this race with Lasting Dream, another Determination homebred. This Cantab Hall filly is out of the stakes-winning mare Dream Together, and enters the Million off back-to-back runner-up finishes to Monalishi. She races from post 6, just to the inside of two other Blais trainees in Wondrous Blue Chip (post 8) and Lookatmegoamigo (post 9).
Torrisi is the third filly racing in the Million, but has post 10 to overcome. The daughter of Walner has just one win on her card, a 1:54.1 victory in her debut, and keeps Yannick Gingars in the bike for trainer Nancy Takter.
