from Standardbred Canada
Mississauga, ON — Won The West turned in a sizzling 1:47.2 performance, equaling the fastest mile in Canadian harness racing history, on Saturday’s (June 18) Pepsi North America Cup undercard at Mohawk Racetrack.
After going winless in four starts this year, North America’s top older pacing horse of 2010 served notice to his pacing rivals that he is back and better than ever, winning the C$100,000 Mohawk Gold Cup Invitational Pace.
Lisagain (Sylvain Filion) took control of the field off the gate from the inside post position with Silent Swing (Phil Hudon) wedging his way into the pocket spot and Alexie Mattosie (Paul MacDonell) parked out to the speedy :25.4 first quarter.
Alexie Mattosie eventually cleared the lead and reached the half in :53.2, but Won The West and driver David Miller swept up from fifth and within a blink of an eye opened up a five length lead on the field.
Won The West sprinted to the third quarter mark in 1:19.3 — the fastest three-quarters ever at Mohawk — and extended his lead in the stretch before stopping the clock in a sizzling 1:47.2, equaling Primetime Bobcat’s all-time Canadian record. Favorite Art Professor (Jody Jamieson) narrowed the winner’s margin of victory to 2-3/4 lengths in finishing second. Mach Dreamer (Rick Zeron) was third.
The time of the mile obliterated the 1:48.2 stakes record set by stablemate Foiled Again and the 1:48.1 all-time track record held by Well Said, Shark Gesture and Buckeye One.
“That was definitely an improvement,” noted Miller in the winner’s circle. “I wasn’t going for the track record, but the horse actually raced better last week and showed signs of improvement. I know he hasn’t been racing great this year so I kind of made up my mind tonight to test him a little bit. He got a big half and when he cleared like that I just let him keep rolling and he did the rest.”
Sent postward as the 3-1 second choice, Won The West paid $8.20 to win. The son of Western Hanover-Gabrielle earned the first victory of his 7-year-old campaign for trainer Ron Burke and owners Country Club Acres, the Strollin Stable and William Robinson. The winner of 34 races boasts $3.54 million in career earnings.