by Jeff Renton, media/communications, the Woodbine Entertainment Group

Toronto, ON — After putting in a tremendous 1:49.1 mile last weekend in the C$50,000 Open Pace, Escape The Wind is set to again do battle in Woodbine’s highest class this Saturday evening.

Carded as the ninth race (10:28 p.m.) on the program, the Open will showcase a talented field of seven. Six of Saturday’s seven to-be participants paced their respective miles in sub-1:50 fashion last week after Rair Earth and driver Mike Saftic laid down serious early fractions clocked in :25.2, :53.2 and 1:21.1.

There wasn’t anyone who thrived off of Rair Earth’s torrid clip more than Escape The Wind and his trainer/driver Roger Mayotte, as the duo flew home for an impressive one and a half length tally courtesy of a :27.1 final quarter.

Mayotte and his four-year-old Artiscape gelding know a little something about getting the job done.

In a three-year-old season which saw him go 10-3-2 and bank $468,934 in earnings from 16 starts, Escape The Wind came within a head of reeling in No Pan Intended, last year’s pacing triple crown winner, in the $542,500 Breeders Crown Final.

Unfortunately, after a stint at the Meadowlands early this year, Escape The Wind, last year’s Provincial Cup victor, came home at less than 100 percent.

“He developed some respiratory problems in the spring there while racing in New Jersey,” Mayotte said of Escape The Wind, who is out of the Cam Fella mare Chicole. “When he came home he couldn’t seem to clear it up. It just seemed to linger; it was a lot of allergies and mucous. We had to put him on the lasix program because he was bleeding from the mucous and (the lasix) seemed to help him start clearing things up.”

Racing strictly on the WEG circuit since mid-July, Escape The Wind may be coming into his best form of the year.

Drawing the 10 hole in an Open on Novemeber 13, Escape The Wind was at the mercy of his foes, yet still closed gamely in the stretch, devouring six and a half lengths from head-stretch onward, pacing a 1:53.3 mile with a :26 second final quarter.

Dropping down to a C$35,000 conditioned event during the fog-infested November 20 card, his line only indicates that he triumphed by one and a half lengths over Admirals Express in 1:51 flat. Over a track that was rated one second off, Mayotte said that the trip was reminiscent of the one he put in last weekend.

“That mile was very similar to last week,” Mayotte said, giving light to the fogged out line. “He got away fourth or fifth and I pulled first-up right around the half. He was second on the outside around the last turn and he passed the leader (Admirals Express) in mid-stretch the same way he did Rair Earth last week.”

Having gone a big mile like that so late in the season, people may wonder how the bay would have come out of it after being on lasix and all.

“He was fine and seemed really good,” said Mayotte. “We’re back in again this weekend and he hasn’t shown any ill effects.

“The plan is to race him through most of the winter meet at Woodbine. We’ll nominate him to a lot of the major races again through the summer and then go from there. I’ll probably look to give him some sort of a break in early winter or early spring before the summer stakes. Basically everything that we paid him into this year; the Canadian Pacing Derby, the (William) Haughton Memorial at the Meadowlands and pretty well all the major stake events.”

The field for Saturday’s Open is below:

PP – Horse – Listed Driver – Trainer
1 – Admirals Express – P. MacDonell – M. Hales
2 – Our First Falcon N – C. Christoforou – J. Stutzman
3 – Bidding For Time – S. Condren – T. O’Sullivan
4 – Whosurboy – L. Ouellette – M. Ford
5 – Escape The Wind – R. Mayotte – R. Mayotte
6 – Rair Earth – M. Saftic – M. Harder
7 – Quality Western – Ma. MacDonald – B. Burgess