Ontario-Sired, Shadow Moon, Victorious In $113,525 Division Of Nassagaweya Stakes

Shadow Moon rallied wide of rivals and edged to a 1:51.4 lifetime-best mile in the first division of the Nassagaweya Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack.

Starting from the second-tier, Shadow Moon positioned himself seventh while Phil The Thrill and Declan Seelster battled for control in :27.1, with Declan Seelster clearing the lead into the backstretch. On his back, Babes Dig Me was then left uncovered and managed to take the lead at the half in :54.4.

Approaching the far turn, Dragon Time moved first over out of fourth, with This Is The Plan on his back and Shadow Moon third over. Dragon Time inched up to match strides with the leader at three-quarters in 1:23.4, taking a narrow lead turning into the stretch.

Off cover, This Is The Plan rallied alongside Dragon Time coming to the eighth pole, while room opened at the inside for Declan Seelster to slide into contention and Shadow Moon began rolling down the center of the track. This Is The Plan grabbed the lead nearing the wire, but Shadow Moon stuck his neck in front at the line to win. This Is The Plan settled for second, Declan Seelster was third, and Twin B Tuffenuff closed for fourth.

By Shadow Play out of the Western Hanover mare Lofty Yankee, Shadow Moon, a winner of four races in five starts, has earned $146,738 for trainer Dr. Ian Moore along with partners R G Mcgroup Ltd. and Serge Savard. Driven by Trevor Henry, he paid $7.90 to win.

“It might’ve been a bad thing that he was trailing [in the second tier] actually,” Trevor Henry said. “He gets pretty warm, but he’s good off a helmet and it was probably the best thing for him.

“At the start [of his career], he had some trouble with his gait, but now his gait is beautiful. He has come a long ways.”

(Standardbred Canada)

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