Woodbine Mohawk Park ramps up its stakes schedule heading into the summer with a big week for the babies. On Monday (August 9), Mohawk will present a strong six-horse field of two-year-old pacers in the Dream Maker Final.
The morning-line favourite, Many Moons, comes out of Anthony Beaton’s barn, and the duo has been enjoying early season success. Many Moons has already won two out of his three lifetime starts, with one of those wins coming in the first leg of the Dream Maker on July 26. Many Moons was victorious in 1:51.3, which is currently the fastest time for any two-year-old in Canada.
The speed badge is nice, according to Beaton, but that’s not his primary concern.
“We’re not worried about the time. It’s really nice to have a horse that goes out and does that but winning is the most important.”
Beaton, who sports 21 wins in 150 seasonal starts with $334,478 in earnings, was not having very much luck finding yearlings in the fall of 2020 but one of the first ones he stumbled upon was Many Moons. A son of Sweet Lou - Solar Eclipse, Many Moons sold on the Wednesday session of the Black Book sale and was purchased for $55,000.
“I purchased him for Mac [Nichol], and he had him on his radar when I went to the Maryland Harrisburg sale. He checked off most of the boxes we had. Turns out we got lucky. He’s a nice pony to have in the barn.”
Beaton and Nichol have a couple of horses together this year, but Many Moons is one of the top ones. Nichol co-owns the colt with Robert Jones of Stony Plain, Alta., and that partnership is new to Beaton but not new to the co-owners.
“Robert called me out of the blue looking for some new partnerships. I matched him and Mac up together, but it turned out they were partners before back in Alberta. It was a strange coincidence.”
Beaton worked on the young colt all winter and is impressed with the progress they have made together.
“He is a very good-looking and sharp horse. He’s very eye-catching. When you’re going slow with him, his gait is nothing to be really thrilled about. But the more we trained with him this past winter, the smoother he became, and his gait is so much better.”
Many Moons seemed to be one of those horses that just knows how to get the job done, and Beaton both recognizes and appreciates that quality.
“He never does anything overly flashy, but he never did anything wrong. He does whatever you ask him.”
Beaton has a long-term plan mapped out for his rookie colt, and that was the reasoning behind Many Moons skipping out of the second leg of the Dream Maker.
“Since we already won the first leg and made it into the final, why don’t we save a start we don’t have to use?” said Beaton, noting that the Nassagaweya is the next target after the Dream Maker. “Then he goes into the Champlain and Metro. We have him paid into Lexington so he should have a couple of starts downs there. Then back for the Breeders Crown. He’s got a long year ahead of him.”
Many Moons will once again team with the red-hot James MacDonald on Monday night, leaving from post four. Beaton feels he has a good fit for his colt with MacDonald in the bike.
“Everything James touches seems to make it into the winner’s circle. That is always a good thing to have on our side.”
Beaton pays little attention to the 7-5 morning line prediction.
“We always look at them, but they don’t mean much. The only thing I worry about is having the horse healthy and sound. If we have all the boxes checked off, we should be near the top and see who wins the race.
“I was very happy with the way he trained this week. I think we’re looking good heading into the finals.”
Mohawk’s first post time on Monday is 7 p.m. ET with the Dream Maker Final estimated to go postward at 7:25 p.m. as the second race on the card. To view the full entries, click the following link: Monday Entries - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Trey Colbeck)