After an early season that did not play out quite as his connections had hoped, three-year-old trotting colt Perfetto made a brief stop in the Grassroots Series at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Thursday evening and picked up a confidence building victory.
Starting from Post 1, Perfetto and driver Trevor Henry eased away from the starting gate and were sitting fourth as Iam What I Am reached the :30.1 opening quarter. Henry soon sent the heavy favourite to the front and the pair was two and one-half lengths on top at the :59.4 half. On cruise control at the 1:29.3 three-quarters, Perfetto kicked into another gear in the stretch and trotted home a three and one-quarter length winner in 1:57.4. Smart Pick closed sharply to be second and early leader Iam What I Am was third.
“That was easy for him,” admitted Henry. “They just put him in here because it (the Gold event) was a half-mile at Grand River and they didn’t figure he’d get around there, so they raced him here.”
A Gold Series winner at two, Perfetto’s connections expected him to be a serious player at the province’s top level again this season, but the gelding made a break in the Gold Series opener at Woodbine Mohawk Park on May 28 and again in his Goodtimes elimination on June 8 and was forced to requalify. Trainer Richard “Nifty” Norman decided to add trotting hopples to the gelding’s equipment and he delivered a solid qualifier on June 12, then followed that up with a strong effort in the June 26 Gold event at Woodbine Mohawk Park, finishing second to Stormont Ventnor. On July 13 Perfetto found the winner’s circle for the first time as a sophomore in an overnight event for non-winners of three races.
“They had a lot of problems with his shoeing and that and they seem to have gotten it straightened out. Anthony Haughan has done a good job with him, and he seems to be coming around now,” said Henry, noting that Cambridge, Ontario resident Haughan cares for the Norman horses while they are competing in Ontario. “He’s getting better, he’s getting his confidence back, you know, he’s got two wins now and it will help him a lot.”
Arthur, Ontario resident Henry has piloted Perfetto in all but one of his Ontario starts for Norman and his Enzed Racing Stable Inc. of Allentown, New Jersey, David McDuffee of Delray Beach, Florida and Joe Hansford of Foothills, Alberta. Thursday’s victory improved the gelding’s sophomore record to three wins and two seconds in eight starts for earnings of $51,580.
Say You Do’s sophomore campaign also got off on the wrong foot with breaks in both the May 20 Grassroots opener at Flamboro Downs and the July 1 event at Dresden Raceway. The Kadabra gelding redeemed himself on Thursday evening however, with an impressive gate-to-wire score from Post 7 in the first $19,150 division.
With Guelph, Ontario resident Paul MacDonell in the race bike for the first time, Say You Do fired off the gate and reached the quarter in :28.4. The pair carried on through a :59 half, fought off a challenge from Daylon Phantom heading by the 1:28 three-quarters and then cruised home to a two and one-quarter length victory in 1:57.2. Fan favourite T Barrr closed well to be second and The Magic Number was third.
MacDonell crafted Say You Do’s first-ever Ontario Sires Stakes victory for trainer Stephen Oldford and his Oldford Racing LLC of Port Huron and Gene Oldford Farms LLC of St. Clair, Michigan. Through six sophomore starts the trotter now has two wins, two seconds and earnings of $17,990.
Perfetto and Say You Do will be hoping for additional Ontario Sires Stakes success when the three-year-old trotting colts and geldings head to Rideau Carleton Raceway on August 26 for both the Gold and Grassroots events.
On Friday evening Woodbine Mohawk Park will showcase Gold Series pacing fillies, both two and three-year-olds. The freshman fillies will compete in Races 5, 7, and 8, while the sophomores square off in Races 2 and 9. The Campbellville oval’s first race goes postward at 7:30 pm.
For complete results please visit Woodbine Mohawk Park Results — July 19, 2018