CANE RUN FARM

Saturday night’s stakes-filled card at Woodbine Mohawk Park was all about setting the table for the richest night in Canadian racing next Saturday, Sept. 21. The eliminations for the Metro Pace, Canadian Trotting Classic, Shes A Great Lady Stakes and Elegantimage Stakes all took place on Saturday, Sept. 14 at Mohawk. Elegantimage Stakes Eliminations Trainer Luc Blais, driver Louis-Philippe Roy and Serge Godin’s Determination swept the pair of $35,000 Elegantimage Stakes eliminations with Drawn Impression and Emoji Hanover. Determination’s homebred Drawn Impression survived a :26.3 stretch sprint against pocket-sitter R Melina to win the first elimination in 1:52.2. Roy floated to the lead with Drawn Impression after a :28.1 first quarter and kept the tempo steady through middle splits of :57.1 and 1:25.4. As she drifted from the pylons spinning for home, R Melina (Todd McCarthy) mounted a challenge off the slow fractions. Drawn Impression refused to relinquish the lead under increasing pressure from R Melina and kept a head in front to the finish while French Champagne (Dexter Dunn), Cold Snaps (Jody Jamieson) and Sambuca Hanover (David Miller) secured the remaining berths. Roy said of the stretch drive, “She’s geared so that she doesn’t run in on the turn. So most of the horses here, when they get out of the turn, they start drifting out a little bit. We were just trotting the last three-sixteenths; they were really, really trotting. It was just a sprint.”  A daughter of Muscle Hill out of the multiple Grand Circuit stakes-winning mare Emoticon Hanover, Drawn Impression has now won seven times from 13 starts and earned $525,344. She paid $3.40 to win.

Trainer Blake MacIntosh led the way with winners in two of Friday’s three Champlain Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The MacIntosh stable swept both divisions of the Champlain for two-year-old trotting fillies, while the Luc Blais-trained colt Emoticon Legacy captured the lone Champlain event for open trotters. Emoticon Legacy turned in an eye-catching final quarter to win the $164,785 Champlain open division in 1:55.1. Driver Louis-Philippe Roy showed plenty of patience with Emoticon Legacy, as the pair got away seventh and would end up third-over in sixth heading around the final turn after the fractions went in :28, :57.3 and 1:27.1 to three-quarters. In the stretch, Emoticon Legacy swept by his rivals with a powerful :27.1 final quarter to win comfortably by 3-3/4 lengths. Tregaron (Scott Young), who was spotted just in front of the eventual winner turning for home, finished in second, while Wildturkey Hanover (Louis-Philippe Roy) finished third after tailing ‘Emoticon’ in a fourth-over position. A homebred for Determination of Montreal, Que., Emoticon Legacy is by the standout stallion Walner and out of the champion mare Emoticon Hanover. He now has three wins in four starts and has earned nearly $150,000. Emoticon Legacy is also expected to compete in next Saturday’s Mohawk Million. He paid $5.30 to win as the favourite.

Drawn Impression (Louis Roy) imposed further supremacy over her peers with another decisive victory in the C$156,000 Simcoe Stakes for 3-year-old trotting fillies. Outfooted early by R Liza out of post 10, driver Louis-Philippe Roy floated Drawn Impression forward from post 9 and sat an unhurried fifth while parked on the rim through a :26.4 first quarter. R Liza (Scott Zeron) cleared the lead to the backstretch and promptly reeled in her speed for a breather, leaving Roy in the perfect spot to push and take over command just past a :56.1 half. “I wasn’t too worried, because I was kind of letting her trot,” said Roy after the race. “I’ve just been easy on her. Like you go a quarter in :28 with her, it’s like if you’re going :30 with another random horse. I mean, she just has a long stride. So the first half, even if it looks a little bit like she had much work to do, she didn’t really work herself.” Roy sat chilly as Drawn Impression cruised on the point around the final turn. She clicked past three-quarters in 1:25 and sprinted for the finish under a hand drive, registering a 3-1/2-length win as the 1-5 favourite over a fast-closing Willys Home Run (James MacDonald), who rallied from third over to take second. Second-over Cold Snaps (Jamieson) tipped off cover to finish third and Tactical Strike (Sylvain Fillion) sat a ground-saving trip for fourth. “The first few times I raced her on the front, like I remember qualifying her – and even the one time in Vernon – I feel like maybe she wasn’t used to it,” Roy also said. “When you got those horses who race on the front for the first time, they’re on and off, and they spend a lot of energy. But even last start and tonight, she’s just like a perfect individual to drive, like an old horse. So the way she is right now, against the competition, I feel like I can let her do what she wants. I wouldn’t want to say that she’s 100 percent safe tonight, and then see her make a break in the next few starts. I don’t want to jinx myself.”  A daughter of Muscle Hill out of champion mare Emoticon Hanover, Drawn Impression has now won twice from six starts this season and six times from 12 starts in her career, good for $507,844. The homebred for Serge Godin’s Determination returned $2.50 to win.