As the sustaining payment deadline looms for this year’s Pepsi North America Cup, a couple of sophomores stepped up with impressive wins during Monday’s 11-race card at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Mission Three, whose connections have kept him eligible to ‘the big dance’, rolled to a handy victory in a $14,000 conditioned event for the tandem of driver Phil Hudon and trainer Jack Moiseyev.
The homebred son of Mach Three-Smileallthewayhome was a parked-out fourth at the quarter pole, but he quickly swept to the top as the field raced into the backstretch. Once in command of the tempo, Mission Three led through middle splits of :56.3 and 1:24.3 before rushing home in :28.3 to win by 6-3/4 lengths over Grantmeawish in 1:53.1. Bags Again was third.
David Serwatuk and BC Reicheld Stables own the gelding who celebrated the maiden-breaking score while pushing his lifetime earnings to $21,920.
Casimir Richie P, who was fifth in last week’s 2018 debut, bounced back to be a popular winner in his second start off the bench for trainer Dr. Ian Moore.
The son of Astronomical-Casimir Hugs was parked past the quarter pole in :27.1 before muscling to the top and laying down middle panels of :56 and 1:25. He rocketed home in :26.3 for driver Bob McClure en route to winning by three-quarters of a length over Hidden Delight in 1:51.3. Webmaster Hanover was third.
Sent off as the 6-5 favourite, Casimir Richie P won for the third time in his career for Dr. Ian Moore and partners Michael Goldberg and Tyler Moore. The colt has now banked $47,295 to date.
Longshots took all the top spots in Monday’s final and only a single ticket connected on the surprising top-five combination to haul down the Jackpot Hi-5.
The horseplayer with the single winning ticket scored a massive return of $158,459.99.
Meadowbranch Memo (#9) and driver Bob McClure captured the evening’s final race at odds of 11-1. The next four-horses across the wire were all 11-1 or higher. The race favourite O Narutac Perfetto (#7), who went off at odds of 4-5, made a break before the start.
Here are the top-five finishers from Monday’s Jackpot Hi-5 race:
1st: #9 Meadowbranch Memo (Bob McClure) 11-1
2nd: #8 Buzz (Jonathan Drury) 13-1
3rd: #4 Stormont Kate (Bruce Richardson) 11-1
4th: #2 Cloud Nine Hanover (Trevor Henry) 30-1
5th: #1 Ramas Last Son (Mike Saftic) 25-1
The winning ticket was purchased by a horseplayer at Northlands Park in Edmonton, Alberta. The ticket cost $64.80 with the horseplayer making a $0.20 base bet.
Here is the breakdown of the winning ticket:
1st: 4,7,9
2nd: 4,7,8,9
3rd: 3,4,7,8,9
4th: 1,2,3,4,7,8,9
5th: 1,2,3,4,7,8,9
The carryover for the Jackpot Hi-5 entering the week’s first card was $144,407.91. Horseplayers wagered an additional $16,531 on the Hi-5 Monday.
The Jackpot Hi-5 wager requires horseplayers to correctly select the top-five finishers in order. The Jackpot is only paid out when there is a single winning ticket. If there are multiple winning tickets, half of the evening’s pool is paid out to the winners, while the other half moves into the carryover Jackpot.
The Jackpot Hi-5 features a $0.20 minimum wager and a low 15 per cent takeout.
The Hi-5 will now start from scratch on Thursday evening’s card. Post time is 7:30 p.m.
(With files from Woodbine Mohawk Park)
To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results – Woodbine Mohawk Park.