After having made a break in stride during his 2010 pari-mutuel debut last weekend in Indiana, the Blair Burgess-trained Il Villaggio returned to Mohawk Racetrack this morning to qualify
.
The highly rated three-year-old son of Yankee Glide had previously been steered this year by Trevor Ritchie and Mike Lachance. Jody Jamieson got the call this morning, and he and the career winner of $488,183 trotted out to contest the ninth dash on Mohawk's 11-race docket.
Jamieson and the 2009 William Wellwood Memorial Stakes winner started from Post 3 this morning and tucked in behind Worthy Advantage (driven by Carmen Auciello). Jamieson and the career winner of six of nine races sat the pocket through the :29.1 opening quarter, :58.3 opening half and the 1:29 three quarters.
Jamieson asked Il Villaggio in the final quarter and was on top by two lengths by the seven-eighths-mile mark. The pair would go on to record a three and three-quarter-length victory in 1:58.4 off a :29.3 final quarter.
At the beginning of this year's stakes season, Il Villaggio was pegged to trot the fastest three-year-old mile (1:51) in 2010 by Stan Bergstein's Experimental Ratings. The colt suffered a leg injury which has derailed him from the majority of his sophomore campaign.
Mohawk played host to a total of 11 qualifying races this morning.
To view the charted results from the Friday qualifying races, click here.