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R Dutchess went a big trip from first-over and got by NJSS champion French Champagne
Eliminations for the Peaceful Way Stakes and William Wellwood Memorial put 2-year-old trotters on the marquee on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
In the first C$30,000 Peaceful Way elim, Royal Mission (Trevor Henry) rallied out of the pocket in the lane and won by a length and a half in 1:54 3/5. Monalishi (Jody Jamieson), who took the lead passing the 29 1/5 quarter and kept it through middle-half stations of 58 2/5 and 1:27 1/5, had to settle for second and R Charm (Bob McClure) was third. Also advancing were Lasting Dream (Chris Christoforou) and Highlandstarburst (Travis Cullen).
"My filly was good. We got cheap fractions; I didn't know whether I'd out-sprint him, but she did," said Henry after the win.
Marcus Melander trains Royal Mission, a daughter of Chapter Seven bred by Jonas Schlabach, for owner Jeff Snyder. Royal Mission won for the second time, has now pocketed C$199,966 and paid $19.10 to win.
Jamieson made amends in the other elimination as he guided R Dutchess to a first-over win in 1:53 1/5, defeating New Jersey Sire Stakes champion Champagne Problems (Dexter Dunn) by a neck. Margareta Hanover (Yannick Gingras), Medley Seelster McClure) and Entertain Me (Jonathan Drury) were the other finalists from this elimination.
"She's got too much ability for her own good at the moment. She'll try and over-trot herself, and you can see that in some of her races. She's still a work in progress, but she's progressing the right way," remarked winning trainer John Butenschoen.
By Father Patrick, R Dutchess was bred by Coyote Wynd Farms and is owned by lessee M And L Of Delaware LLC. She's been victorious in half of her four outings, has put away C$26,016 and returned $29.70 to win as a 13-1 shot.
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Tactical Dynasty (Gingras) brushed from third to first on the way to the 57 3/5 half in the initial Wellwood Memorial elimination and rolled to a 1:53 4/5 victory. Extended Session (James MacDonald) crossed the wire second, five lengths behind Tactical Dynasty, but was off-stride and eventually placed fifth for being lapped-on by three horses. That moved Lookatmegoamigo (Jamieson) from third to second, Maryland (Dunn) from fourth to third and Warrior (Ake Svanstedt) from fifth to fourth.
"He's learning. He's got of ability, and he's just got to learn to be a racehorse - so far so good," stated Gingras. "I really always liked him. He's got that nice gait to him, and he's fast. Being a Tactical Landing doesn't hurt him either. He's got a good attitude, and I think down the road he's going to keep getting better. I think we have a nice colt on our hands."
Spring Haven Farm bred Tactical Dynasty, who is trained by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC., Phil Collura, Larry Karr and J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby. Tactical Dynasty made his second appearance in the winner's circle, has earned C$83,973 and paid $3.50 to win as the favorite.
The final Wellwood Memorial elimination saw Manforce (Jamieson) carve out fractions of 28 3/5, 59 1/5 and 1:28 2/5, but he was overtaken in the lane by New Jersey Sire Stakes champion Nordic Catcher S (Svanstedt), who went two-wide from the pocket before three-quarters. However, Emoticon Legacy was swung out three-wide from third by MacDonald in the lane, and thanks to a 27 1/5 last quarter, he got around Nordic Catcher S by a head in a 1:56 mile. Manforce was third, followed by Getastarfromthesky (Dunn) and Southwind Caspian (Paul MacDonell).
"I'd raced against him, and I'd seen him. He looks like a special colt," said MacDonald, who catch-drove the son of Walner and $1.7M+ earner Emotion Hanover. "He looks like he's just developing into everything Emoticon throws in all of them. She's a super broodmare and she was a super racehorse. This horse looks like he's turned into a nice horse as well."
A homebred for Serge Godin's Determination stable and trained by Luc Blais, Emoticon Legacy has won in both of his outings and stashed away C$25,000. He returned $8.70 to win as the 3-1 second choice.
Here are the draws for next Saturday night's finals:
C$390,000 Peaceful Way
1-Champagne Problems
2-R Dutchess
3-Royal Mission
4-R Charm
5-Highlandstarburst
6-Medley Seelster
7-Lasting Dream
8-Monalishi
9-Margareta Hanover
10-Entertain Me
C$575,000 William Wellwood Memorial
1-Extended Session
2-Emoticon Legacy
3-Manforce
4-Tactical Dynasty
5-Southwind Caspian
6-Nordic Catcher S
7-Warrior
8-Getastarfromthesky
9-Maryland
10-Lookatmegoamigo
