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Louis-Philippe Roy celebrates Nijinsky's North America Cup victory
Nijinsky followed cover from stablemate Legendary Hanover and then rallied past pace-setter Captains Quarters in the stretch to capture Saturday night's C$1 million Pepsi North America Cup final for 3-year-old male pacers at Woodbine Mohawk Park in 1:48 1/5.
Captain Albano (Todd McCarthy) was fastest away from the gate but was challenged on the outside by Funtime Bayama (Sylvain Filion), and Funtime Bayama cleared to the top passing the 26 1/5 quarter. Captain Albano would then re-move to the front before race favorite Captains Quarters (Jody Jamieson) could pin him on the inside as he began a brush.
McCarthy made Captains Quarters and Jamieson work until just prior to the 54 1/5 half before releasing him, and that left Legendary Hanover (James MacDonald) to take up the chase from first-over out of fifth. When Legendary Hanover moved, that gave Nijinsky, who never went to the inside after floating out from post four, a helmet to follow for driver Louis-Philippe Roy, and he was trailed by Ivy Park (Yannick Gingras) and Janelle Granny (Brett MacDonald).
Captains Quarters was still the boss at the 1:21 2/5 three-quarters, but Legendary Hanover continued to make gains on the outside, and that towed Nijinsky into a perfect spot to strike. Captains Quarters dug in under Jamieson urging, while also keeping Captain Albano hopelessly boxed in the pocket, but Nijinsky had clear sailing to the outside, and behind a 26 2/5 final panel, Nijinsky got up for the victory by a length and a half. Captains Quarters was second and a shuffled Funtime Bayama escaped in the lane for third. Captain Albano never got clearance until very late and had to settle for fourth, and Legendary Hanover stuck around for fifth.
"It worked really well and I have to give credit to the horse. He's so handy. You can do whatever you want, and he'll respond to you anytime in the mile," Roy said after the race. "A bunch of horses, you've got to keep them on their toes, him, he's so easy to drive. Coming down the lane, I didn't know how much Jody had left, but I really liked my chances. I knew coming off the helmet he'd give me a pretty good kick.
"I think we're going to see him more and more in the next few weeks or months. I'm really excited to follow him for the summer. I just hope he's stays healthy and as strong as he is right now."
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A son of Bettor's Delight bred by Jeff Snyder, Nijinsky is trained by Tony Beaton for owners West Wins Stable, John Fielding and Mark Dumain. This was his sixth win from 15 career starts, he has earned C$723,362 and paid $7.90 to win as the 5-2 second choice.
"He was a very nice colt last year. He just had a little immaturity and that. He was always showing these high speeds on the end of the miles. We couldn't use him early," Beaton stated. "This year, he's come back, and he's so much more mature, and you can do anything with him. He's still got that high speed."
Nijinsky and Legendary Hanover are both Meadowlands Pace eligibles, but Beaton didn't commit to a schedule for either one just yet.
"Nijinsky's got a Gold next week in Ottawa (Rideau Carleton), but I think we could probably miss that one now. I think I'll have to talk to them and tell them we'll maybe give him a week off, well-deserved," he remarked with a laugh. "I don't know what our plan is with Nijinsky. We'll sit down and talk about him going forward. We've got two good candidates to go (to the Meadowlands Pace)."
McCarthy had better luck in the C$75,000 consolation earlier on the card as he tipped 43-1 shot Remember The Alamo first-over out of third before the 1:22 4/5 three-quarters and nosed out pace-setter Clever Cody (Filion) on the wire in a 1:49 1/5 effort. Mirage Hanover, much like Captain Albano would suffer, never found space in the two-hole and had to settle for third.
Remember The Alamo, a Captaintreacherous colt, was sent out by Tony Alagna for owners Riverview Racing LLC., Marvin Katz, Lynn Katz and Remember The Alamo Racing. The Hanover Shoe Farms-bred won for the third time in 14 appearances, has pocketed C$150,110 and returned $88 to win.
--additional quotes courtesy of Derick Giwner--
