Milton, ON — Ontario’s talented two-year-old trotting colts were featured on another spectacular night of harness racing at Woodbine Mohawk Park Saturday (Sept. 19) and this week fortune smiled on Logan Park.
The lightly rated son of Archangel and driver Louis-Philippe Roy got away fourth from post seven in the lone C$158,000 Gold Series split and watched Emotions Riches (Jody Jamieson) ring up a :26.3 quarter before yielding to Sweet Soul David (Yannick Gingras). Heading by the :56.4 quarter Roy sent Logan Park after the leaders and the colt had an edge on Sweet Soul David at the 1:26.4 three-quarters. In command at the top of the stretch, Logan Park dug in to hold off Full Of Muscles (Andrew McCarthy) by a head in 1:55.3. Tokyo Seelster was three and three-quarter lengths back in third. Favorite Macho Martini (Bob McClure) finished at the back of the field after suffering interference and making a break in the stretch.
“He was good. When he stays trotting he’s as good as any of them,” said trainer Rob Fellows. “He’s made a lot of breaks at inopportune times and had to qualify and missed a couple sires stakes, but he was good tonight.”
The win was the first in Ontario Sires Stakes action for Logan Park and his second of the season. The colt’s other victory came in the Aug. 6 leg of the Millard Farms Series at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Among Logan Park’s miscues, which number four, was an error in last weekend’s William Wellwood Memorial Final when he was sitting third heading into the final quarter. Fellows was hopeful a shoeing change would work in Logan Park’s favor on Saturday, but admitted he and Roy had been hopeful before.
“We’ve been confident before and lost him in the first turn. Last week I was confident when he got around the first turn and then of course he didn’t get around the last turn,” said Fellows, who noted that Saturday’s shoeing change was far from the first. “It used to be trotting around the turns was his forte, but then he started making a lot of breaks in the turns and, you know, we have to take it as it is. I mean they’re two-year-old trotters, they’re growing every step as it goes too, they grow and their gait changes, it’s very tough.”
Outofthepark Stable of Rockwood, breeder Reg Higgs of Strathroy and Arpad Szabo of Bradford, ON share ownership of Logan Park, who boosted his career earnings to $123,300 with the win and jumped from thirteenth to third in the division standings with 70 points. The top 10 point earners after the final Gold Series leg, Oct. 8 at Flamboro Downs, will advance to the $250,000 Super Final at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Oct. 17.
Complete results from Saturday’s program are available at Woodbine Mohawk Park Results. Gold Series point standings can be found on the Ontario Sires Stakes Leaderboard.