by Greg Gangle, WEG media

Toronto, ON — There was a great parade of returning 3-year-olds this Thursday morning (May 5) at Mohawk Racetrack, as many of last year’s elite 2-year-olds marked their first charted line of 2011.

Last year’s top Ontario-sired pacers, Prodigal Seelster and Mystician, both made their sophomore qualifying debuts. Both colts sired by Camluck finished 1-2, respectively, with Prodigal Seelster getting the upper hand.

Mystician was sent directly to the front by driver Jody Jamieson to lead past the opening panel in a soft :29.1. The lead changed going towards the half as Randy Waples pocket-pulled and sent Prodigal Seelster to command. The David Menary trainee would continue to lead past the middle-half in :57.2 and 1:26.1. Heading for home, Prodigal Seelster was under a comfortable hand drive to capture the contest by over five lengths in 1:54.1.

Following the qualifier, Jody Jamieson mentioned that Mystician scoped sick and was not on his game.

“He was just okay,” Jamieson commented. “We had him scoped right after the qualifier by Dr. Hennessey and he showed a lot of mucus today, so I knew something was wrong with him because he wasn’t himself.”

Last year, was a prosperous year for both Prodigal Seelster and Mystician. Prodigal Seelster scored victories in the $291,000 Battle of Waterloo and $297,000 OSS Super final to finish his season with $466,487 in earnings.

Trained by Jeff Gillis, Mystician captured the $960,000 Metro Pace and a pair of OSS Gold finals as a freshman to earn $780,312.

Pretty Katherine, who earned $348,590 and equaled the world record of 1:50.3 last season, made her 3-year-old debut. The daughter of Rocknroll Hanover captured her qualifying effort in 1:56 for driver Mark MacDonald and trainer Casie Coleman.

Mark MacDonald also confirmed that Idyllic, who was also entered to qualify, was scratched sick.

Monkey On My Wheel, who finished second in the $297,000 OSS Super final last season and earned $211,635, returned to Mohawk for trainer Travis Umphrey. The daughter of Life Sign scored her first charted line of the year in 1:57.2 for driver Rick Zeron.

Other winners Thursday morning included: Yursa Hanover-1:59; Best By Far-1:55.4; Diller A Dollar-1:57.4; Lukes Sophie-1:58.3; Mach Wheel-1:53.4; Daylon Magician-1:57.3; and Dalhousie Dave-1:54.2.

Following the qualifying sessions, Jody Jamieson, Mark MacDonald and Travis Umphrey spoke with WEG’s media department. To hear their thoughts on the morning’s qualifiers, click here.