Wheels On Fire was reunited with regular pilot Doug McNair during the session of qualifiers on Friday, March 1 at Woodbine Mohawk Park for the tandem's first charted line since the well-documented accident last June in the 2023 Mohawk Gold Cup.
Surprisingly, this qualifying effort was the first for McNair and Wheels On Fire as a unit. The nine-year-old pacer had been a model of consistency since owner Brad Grant shifted the son of Somebeachsomewhere - Ab Fab to the stable of trainer Richard Moreau just before the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. There was a string of 111 races between Wheels On Fire's most recent set of qualifiers and his last qualifiers in 2019.
McNair pointed Wheels On Fire to the top in his Friday assignment. The pacer obliged, and his rivals acqiuesced. After initial fractions of :30, :58.3 and 1:27.2, Wheels On Fire paced home in :28 to trip the timer in 1:55.2. Uncle Shank A (James MacDonald) and Mamba (Sylvain Filion) finished next, just a half-length back.
The 2021 O'Brien Award winner as Canada's Older Pacer of the Year, Wheels On Fire boasts a summary of 47-32-25 from 147 lifetime starts with more than $1.1 million in earnings.
Friday's qualifiers are available in full below.
For results from the qualifying session, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).
(Standardbred Canada)