Highland Kismet Strolls to Simcoe Stakes Record; Drawn Impression Romps

MILTON, August 31, 2024— Hambletonian runner-up Highland Kismet glided over the Woodbine Mohawk Park oval as the prohibitive 1-9 choice on Saturday night to lower the stakes record in the $164,000 Simcoe Stakes under wraps.

Again, driver Bob McClure gapped the gate a tad with Highland Kismet, but as positions started to settle through the first eighth he hit the motor on the Mark Etsell trainee. Highland Kismet swiftly grabbed the lead from his stablemate Willowtime after a :27.3 first quarter and strode without a sweat to the backside.

“I don’t worry about him. He’s push button now leaving out of there,” McClure said after the race. “You just want to keep them out of trouble. And that’s all I did. I just let the leaver settle and I left mine outside. Coasted to the front, and he took care of the rest.”

Highland Kismet saw nary a rival once on the lead. He clicked past the half in :55.4 and 1:24.2 before spurting away on his own volition to a 3-3/4-length win over 98-1 shot Masstercraft. Paquet, the 7-1 second choice, closed for third and Bryant Bros S, who pulled first over midway around the final turn, settled for fourth.

The 1:51.3 mile by Highland Kismet bests the previous stakes mark of 1:51.4 set back in 2010 by Jimmy Takter pupil Little Brown Fox. Saturday’s win for Highland Kismet also marked the first start that the Father Patrick gelding raced without trotting hopples.

“We’ve trained him quite fast without them, and we felt that maybe we could develop more speed without them, but I was a little nervous,” trainer Mark Etsell said. “We thought about it, but we thought we we’d wait till after the Hambo for sure, and then make that decision and go from there. That’s why we qualified him, and Bob was very confident with him, so we said we’ll go with it tonight and see what happens.”

“I think me and Mark both agreed that the race that he struggled in the Meadowlands [the Stanley Dancer Memorial] was, you know… Mark had trained him a fast mile without them. I think he kind of learned to reach more. And I think that night, the hopples were kind of jamming him up. I think that was most of the problem that night. And then with how loose Mark had them, he let them all the way out there. He was practically tripping on them. I didn’t think they’re really doing much. I think they did a lot more for Mark than they did for [Kismet]; it made him feel better. But I don’t blame him. All the way training down, this horse never wanted to stay flat. So, I see a different horse. I’ve seen one that hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Making just the 10^th start of his career, Highland Kismet collected his sixth win and added to a bankroll now worth $583,085 for owner-breeder Highland Thoroughbred Farm.

“It’s a lot of fun,” McClure also said. “And I think, like Mark said, it’s only his tenth lifetime start, he’s still improving quite a bit. It’s exciting to see what he’s going to do, come October in Lexington and those places. I wouldn’t trade him for anybody. Not just because it’s with Mark and Mary, but he’s an extremely special horse, and he’s a lot of fun to drive, and I’m lucky to be sitting behind him.”

Highland Kismet, who Etsell indicated is bound for the Canadian Trotting Classic and then the Bluegrass Stakes at The Red Mile, paid $2.20 to win.

Drawn Impression imposed further supremacy over her peers with another decisive victory in the $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 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, who rallied from third over to take second. Second-over Cold Snaps tipped off cover to finish third and Tactical Strike 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.

By Ray Cotolo, for Woodbine Communications