by Mark McKelvie, WEG Communications

Campbellville, ON — Mohawk Racetrack played host to nine qualifiers Friday morning (Nov. 4), featuring a solid group of 2-year-olds putting in final preparations for next week’s Fall Four eliminations. The sun was shining, the temperature was comfortable and the track was fast for the qualifying action.

Two-year-old pacing colts Ideal Wheel and Deadly Action both scored qualifying victories in prep for the Governor’s Cup.

A son of American Ideal, Ideal Wheel made a second quarter move to the lead and went on to pace a :57.1 back-half for a 1:55.4 score. Jonathan Drury was in the bike behind the Casie Coleman trainee. Ideal Wheel’s last pari-mutuel start was a runaway victory in the Champlain Stakes on Sept. 10. He has won three of six starts this season for $121,282 in earnings.

Deadly Action was making his first appearance Friday since a New York Sires Stakes event on Sept. 3 and reached the wire first in 1:56.1. The son of Art Major sat third throughout for driver Drury and was asked to dig in during the stretch drive to fight off 3-year-old pacing filly Stylish Beachwhere by a neck. Trained by Colin Johnson, Deadly Action is one for seven as a rookie with $16,666 earned.

On the pacing filly side, Candlelight Dinner took care of business with a solid 1:55.2 victory for Drury and Coleman. The daughter of American Ideal brushed to the front in the second quarter to reach the half in :58.4 and three-quarter pole in 1:27.2. Candlelight Dinner responded to some mild urging in the lane to pace home comfortably in :28 for the victory. A four-time winner from seven starts with $108,208 earned, Candlelight Dinner is eligible to the Three Diamonds.

Goldsmith Maid eligible trotting fillies Gravitator and Southwind Tesla finished one-two in 1:58.4. Gravitator and driver Sylvain Filion circled to the lead just after the half and led the field by three-quarters in 1:30.1, while Southwind Tesla marched up from fourth to second on the far turn to sit a couple lengths back for driver Paul MacDonell. Both trotting fillies finished up strong in the lane, with Gravitator finishing 1-1/2 lengths ahead of Southwind Tesla.

A daughter of Kadabra, Gravitator most recently finished second in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final on Oct. 15. The Luc Blais trainee has one win in eight starts with earnings of $123,832.

A daughter of Chapter Seven, Southwind Tesla’s most recent outing was a 1:56.2 maiden-breaking score in a Late Closer at Red Mile on Oct. 6. The Rene Dion trainee has hit the board in four of eight starts this season and earned $13,224.

The Fall Four Stakes (Governor’s Cup, Three Diamonds, Valley Victory and Goldsmith Maid) are the last Grand Circuit stop for 2-year-olds in 2016. All four events will feature a purse of C$400,000-plus, with the Governor’s Cup potentially going for a purse north of C$500,000.

The Fall Four eliminations are scheduled for next Friday (Nov. 11) at Woodbine Racetrack with the finals to take place on Saturday (Nov. 19).

Also on Friday morning, 6-year-old gelding Vegas Vacation returned to make his first appearance since July 2015. The 2013 Little Brown Jug champion used a strong stretch-kick to rally from fifth for a 1:53.3 qualifying victory. Vegas Vacation surged by proven overnight competitors Thunder Steeler and The Rev to score the victory by a neck, with a charted final quarter of :26.2.

Trained by Casie Coleman, Vegas Vacation had a tremendous 3-year-old season in 2013, but was sidelined for the entire 2014 campaign. The son of Bettor’s Delight returned in 2015 to make six starts, but suffered another injury and was shut down after the Ben Franklin Stakes on July 4. Vegas Vacation is an 11-time winner from 36 career starts with earnings of more than $1.1 million and a mark of 1:48.3.

The final weekend of the 2016 Mohawk meet begins Friday evening with an 11-race card. Post time is 7:30 p.m.