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Apex showed a lot of grit in winning Canada’s richest trotting race.
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The two-year-old colt got the better of 1-5 favourite Endurance to win the $1-million Mohawk Million at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Saturday at odds of 5-2 in 1:51 4/5, the fastest mile ever raced in Canada by a two-year-old trotter.
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Driven by Dexter Dunn, Apex sat in mid-pack early in the mile with Endurance finding his way to the lead in the backstretch. Dunn moved Apex to the outside at the half-mile pole and gradually moved up, putting his nose in front just past the eighth-pole and drawing to a one-length win.
“There was a lot of action going to the first turn, but he handled it like a true professional,” Dunn, who also won last year’s Mohawk Million with Maryland said. “We got away not too far back and he handled it really good.”
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Trained by Marcus Melander, who now has three Million wins on his resume, Apex came into the race with five wins in seven starts but with time, he has gone from being rather anxious to being a lot more calm.
“He got a little excited there early on,” Dunn said. “Now he’s beautiful and relaxed.”
“He’s intelligent too. He knows his job. And he’s only two.”
Mohawk fans will assuredly see Apex again in the Breeders’ Crown in mid-October.
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The Mohawk Million was one of five Grade 1 stakes on Canada’s richest card of horse racing. The $1-million Metro Pace was a battle of undefeated horses with Beau Jangles getting the better of Frantic Hanover in 1:49 1/5.
Driven by Bob McClure for trainer Ian Moore, Beau Jangles had to work hard to get past Frantic Hanover early in the mile. In the stretch, Frantic Hanover got room to slip out of the pocket but could not collar his rival.
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“Three-wide in the first turn wasn’t part of my plan but I was pretty confident in this colt,” McClure said. “I figured anything I threw at him, he would take in and prevail.”
“It looked like a two-horse race and I just thought I was able to out-maneuver him.”
The Ontario-sired Beau Jangles is now perfect in eight career starts.
Emoticon Legacy was simply brilliant in the $615,000 Canadian Trotting Classic, setting a Canadian record of 1:49 4/5 for three-year-old trotting colts. Driven by Louis-Philippe Roy, Emoticon Legacy had to work to get the lead in 25 /45 seconds but was never touched after that and had enough to hold off main rival Maryland. Trained by Luc Blais, Emoticon Legacy now has 10 career wins.
Roy and Blais also scored in the $375,000 Elegantimage for three-year-old fillies, albeit through a disqualification. 10-1 longshot Lasting Dream was promoted after 4-5 favorite R Dutchess, who had dominated the race, caused Global Heritage to break stride going into the first turn. R Dutchess was placed last. It was the sixth career win for Lasting Dream.
Loua Dipa paced a fabulous mile in the $470,000 Shes A Great Lady. Driven by Ronnie Wrenn Jr., the two-year-old filly was allowed to sit behind a contested early pace then exploded in the latter half of the race to win by four lengths in a Canadian record time of 1:49 1/5. Sent off as the 3-5 favourite, the daughter of Sweet Lou is now six-for-nine for trainer Ron Burke.
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