O'Brien Award winners and finalists were front and centre during the session of qualifiers on Friday, May 3 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, with 2023 Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year Sylvia Hanover making her four-year-old debut.
Making her charted debut in the eighth dash of the morning, Sylvia Hanover sat fifth with Bob McClure up as Bob Loblaw carved out fractions of :28.3, :57.2 and 1:25.4 for driver Sylvain Filion. There would be no fowl play for Silver Label this time around, as Doug McNair angled the five-year-old out of the pocket approaching the third station and she paced home in :26 for the 1:52 score. Macho Phil (Jonathan Drury) edged out Bob Loblaw for second, with both colts more than three lengths back of the leader.
Silver Label (Bettors Delight - Hidden Gem) sports a 20-10-3 summary from 40 career attempts with $1.36 million in earnings and a mark of 1:47.3 take last year at The Meadowlands for breeder - owner Millar Farms of Stouffville, Ont. and trainer Nick Gallucci.
Sylvia Hanover didn't appear to be asked but willingly paced home in :25.4 to finish fourth, some 4-1/2 lengths back of Silver Label.
According to trainer Shawn Steacy, Sylvia Hanover delivered just what her connections wanted in that first effort of the season.
"She was covered up the majority of the way and I believe kept well within herself," Steacy told Trot Insider on Friday afternoon. "Maybe a touch faster than I anticipated but the track was good."
A daughter of Always B Miki-Shyaway, Sylvia Hanover notched 10 wins and two seconds in 13 starts as a three-year-old for seasonal earnings of $839,375 for Ontario-based trainers Shawn and Mark Steacy and owner Hudson Standardbred Stable Inc. of Hudson, Que. en route to 2023 Horse of the Year honours. For her career, it's a 18-3-0 summary from 22 starts, a mark of 1:48.1 and more than $1.74 million in earnings.
Staying with the O'Brien Award winner theme, the fastest mile of the morning came courtesy the 2023 Two-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year — Legendary Hanover. Driver James MacDonald settled the sophomore into third for his second test of the season, allowing Sporty Bob to ramble through a :28 opening quarter. Legendary Hanover and pocket-sitting stablemate Nijinsky (Louis-Philippe Roy) both looped that early leader down the backside as Legendary Hanover took the top before a :57.2 half.
The Anthony Beaton trainees then kicked it up a notch, separating from the pack through a 1:25 third station and then hitting the afterburners down the lane. Both sophomores paced home in :25.4, with Legendary Hanover 1-1/2 lengths better than Nijinsky.
Legendary Hanover (Huntsville - Lillian Hanover) competes for Casie Coleman's West Wins Stable of Florida, Eric Good of Maryland and Mark Dumain of New York. As a rookie, Legendary Hanover posted a 6-2-0 summary from nine starts, taking a mark of 1:50 while banking more than $405,000. He's the second choice in the 2024 TROT Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book at 9-2 odds.
Willowtime was a 2023 O'Brien Award finalist, finishing second in voting to fellow Friday morning qualifier T C I. And like T C I, Willowtime was a winner in the 1:54 range on Friday.
Making his third appearance of the season — but the first with trotting hopples — Willowtime trotted along in second for Bob McClure behind Perfect Landing (Steven Hudon) through opening fractions of :28.3 and :57.2. McClure asked Willowtime to get serious for the back half of the mile and Willowtime obliged. Looping to the lead prior to a 1:27.1 third quarter, Willowtime trotted home in :27.2 for a 1:54.3 effort. He was five lengths better than his closest rival, Griff (James MacDonald), in a mile one-fifth of a second off his lifetime mark.
Trained and co-owned by 2023 O'Brien Award of Horsemanship recipient Mark Etsell, Willowtime (Lookslikeachpndale-Sos Respect) is co-owned by his breeder Terry Devos and Peter Porter. In just five starts, Willowtime posted a 4-0-1 summary with $355,619 in earnings. He's one of nine colts set to compete in the $124,000 SBOA Colt Trot on Saturday, May 11 at Mohawk.
Fashion Frenzie was a narrow winner in his 2024 debut a week ago, but there was no competition close to the six-year-old in his second test of the season. Regular driver Louis-Philippe Roy allowed the son of Archangel - Striking Fashion to motor through splits of :27.3, :57 and 1:26.1 before trotting home in :27.4 for a 10-length romp over a debuting Warrawee Xenia (McClure) in 1:54.
Richard Moreau conditions Fashion Frenzie for Quebec-based Ecurie Francis Richard Inc., Pierre Guillemette, Sylvain Richard of Becancour and Mario Bourgea of Stanbridge East. Lifetime, the 2021-2022 O'Brien Award winner sports a 24-5-0 summary from 40 starts with more than $1.1 million in earnings.
The replay of the full qualifying session is available below.
For results from the qualifying session, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).
(Standardbred Canada; photo features, clockwise from top left: Willowtime, Legendary Hanover, Fashion Frenzie, Silver Label)