MILTON, Ont.— Short prices landed in the pair of $30,000 eliminations for the William Wellwood Memorial on Saturday night (Aug. 17) at Woodbine Mohawk Park while both $30,000 eliminations for the Peaceful Way went by way of an upset. Odds-on choice Tactical Dynasty muscled to a 1:53.4 victory in the first William Wellwood Memorial elimination. “When I asked him in the middle of the last turn and no one was coming, he kicked into gear,” winning driver Yannick Gingras said after the race. Gingras sent Tactical Dynasty out of post 7 to race third by a :29 first quarter, but soon lifted the Tactical Landing colt off the pegs and brushed to the lead. He cleared command before a :57.3 half and skedaddled from the competition, clicking past three-quarters in 1:25.4 and strolling under the beam a wrapped-up winner by five lengths. Extended Session broke stride chasing from the pocket and finished a lapped-on second, which disqualified him to fifth to still make the final. Lookatmegoamigo, Maryland and Warrior, respectively, all moved up a finishing spot to be second, third and fourth. “Once he’s in that gear, he’s pretty solid,” Gingras also said. “He handled all the breakers and all that stuff. I really always liked him. He’s got that nice gait to him, he’s fast. I think we’ve got a nice colt on our hands.” Ron Burke trains Tactical Dynasty for his Burke Racing Stable LLC, Phillip Collura, Larry Karr, J. and T. Silva and Purnel and Libby. He won his second race from five starts, has now banked $83,973 and paid $3.50 to win. Tactical Dynasty. (New Image Media) Emoticon Legacy stayed unbeaten in just her second start on the track when collaring 1-5 favorite Nordic Catcher S in the final strides of a 1:56 mile in winning the second Wellwood elimination. Driver James MacDonald floated Emoticon Legacy forward to race third as 13-1 shot Manforce attempted to steal the race. Clocking opening fractions of :28.3 and :59.1, Manforce soon bore pressure when Nordic Catcher S flushed out of his pocket ride to sit first up. Nordic Catcher S accelerated for the lead after three-quarters in 1:28.2 but stalled once downing Manforce in the lane. MacDonald meanwhile found room spinning off the turn to follow Nordic Catcher S’s move outside and then angled his charge off the helmet in the lane to inch closer and closer to the lead. In the final yards, Emoticon Legacy successfully reeled in Nordic Catcher S to win by a head. Manforce held third while Getastarfromthesky and Southwind Caspian earned the remaining slots to the final. “He looks like a special colt, like he’s developing into everything Emoticon [Hanover] throws into them,” winning driver James MacDonald said of Emoticon Legacy, a Walner filly out of champion mare Emoticon Hanover. “She’s a super broodmare, she was a super racehorse and this horse looks like he’s turning into a nice horse as well.” Luc Blais trains Emoticon Legacy for owner-breeder Determination. She’s banked $25,000 from her two victories and paid $8.70 to win. Emoticon Legacy. (New Image Media) Royal Mission scored a mild upset at odds of 8-1 with a pocket pounce to victory in the first Peaceful Way elimination. “We got cheap fractions. I didn’t know if we would outsprint them, but she did,” winning driver Trevor Henry said after the race. “She showed she can leave, so I thought I’d leave with her and let Jody go. That’s the way it worked out.” Launching from post 7, Royal Mission secured a trail ride behind 8-5 second choice Monalishi, who cut a tepid clip of :29.1, :58.2 and 1:27.1 before buckling down for the stretch sprint. In spite of the soft fractions, Monalishi failed to stave the late flurry from Royal Mission, who won edging away by 1-1/2 lengths in a 1:54.3 mile. R Charm, odds-on favorite Lasting Dream and Highlandstarburst earned the remaining berths to the final. Marcus Melander trains Royal Mission, a daughter of Chapter Seven and a full sister to Canadian Trotting Classic champions Ahundreddollarbill and Slay. Jeff Snyder owns the filly who has now won two times from five starts and banked $199,966. She paid $19.10 to win. Royal Mission. (New Image Media) Steady handling by Jody Jamieson on a bumpy stretch burst by R Dutchess straightened her to nail the winning blow at 13-1 over 3-5 favorite Champagne Problems in the second Peaceful Way elimination. “[I] was pushing her too hard, and she was trying to give me everything she got. She overcame me there and kept trotting hard after that,” winning driver Jody Jamieson said after the race. R Dutchess began her pursuit moving to a :57.4 half, where Champagne Problems circled from the pocket to take the lead into the final turn. Champagne Problems strode strongly by three-quarters in 1:25.3, though R Dutchess persisted in her rally and loomed to within a head of the lead spinning for home. The pair sparred down the lane – Champagne Problems steadfast to the pylons and R Dutchess resilient to smoothen bobbled strides into the final eighth. R Dutchess then clawed forward to grab a neck victory in a 1:53.1 mile over Champagne Problems with Margareta Hanover another six lengths behind in third. Medley Seelster and Entertain Me rounded out the top five. “She’s just a little dumb, green and [has] too much ability for her own good at the moment,” trainer John Butenschoen said. “She’ll try to over-trot herself. She’s still a work in progress, but she’s progressing the right way.” A daughter of Father Patrick out of 2018 Peaceful Way champion The Ice Dutchess, R Dutchess won her second race from four starts and has now earned $26,016. She’s leased by M&L of Delaware LLC and paid $29.70 to win. R Dutchess. (New Image Media) Each elimination winner from Saturday’s stakes action earned draw protection between posts 2 and 6 for their respective finals, which Woodbine Mohawk Park will contest next Saturday (Aug. 24). $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 $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 — RAY COTOLO FOR WOODBINE COMMUNICATIONS Share This:Share
