15 enter Maple Leaf Trot

Fifteen older trotting horses--including top-ranked Sand Vic, European-shipper Order By Fax, 2005 Hambletonian winner Vivid Photo and standout-mare Peaceful Way--have been entered to contest a pair of eliminations for the $877,500 Maple Leaf Trot Saturday night at Mohawk.

The top five finishers from each elimination will gain entrance to the final (Sept. 9), and the connections of the elimination winners will be given the opportunity to select their post positions for the $850,000 (estimated) dash.

The two elims will help complement a very attractive card of racing, which also includes the $1-million Metro Pace for two-year-old pacing colts, and the $754,500 final of the Shes A Great Lady Stakes for two-year-old pacing fillies.

One of the two Maple Leaf Trot elims promises to be a contentious affair, as Peaceful Way (PP5, Trevor Ritchie), Sand Vic (PP8, Brian Sears) and Order By Fax (PP7, Per Lennartsson) have all drawn in together in an eight-horse contest.

Smooth Muscles (PP1, Ron Pierce), Stiletto (PP2, Rick Zeron), Dunkster (PP3, Kurt Sugg), Hez Striking (PP4, John Campbell) and Gettindownanddirty (PP6, Paul MacDonell) will round out the solid elim.

Vivid Photo (PP1, Roger Hammer) will highlight the other elimination, a seven-horse tilt. The son of SJ's Photo will line up with Corleone Kosmos (PP2, John Campbell), Med Vac (PP3, John Campbell), Muscles Marinara (PP4, Mark MacDonald), Elegant Man (PP5, George Brennan), Abbey Road C (PP6, Keith Jones) and SA Speedy Balance (PP7, Chris Christoforou).

As for Order By Fax, perking up after noticing the camera Tuesday morning in the Mohawk backstretch, the invitee is adapting well to quarantine, even though it's not quite home.

"He's taking to the retention and quarantine OK, but he's used to getting out all the time, so if I'm not here he can get a little grumpy," said Ann Jansson, caretaker of the 5-year-old Viking Kronos stallion who currently has a quarter of Mohawk's retention barn all to himself. "But I've gone some trips with him out on the main track and he seems like himself and is taking well to the shorter distance."

Canada marks the fifth country in which Order By Fax has raced in (including Sweden, Finland, France and the U.S.), so he understandably has gotten used to both travel--be it on the road or in the air--and a little time in the limelight

"He was good shipping over, and didn't have any problems. I'm confident that he's going to race very well," said Jansson, who has been keeping a close watch on the 12-time career winner and earner of $496,634 for co-owner-trainer Per Lennartsson. "He always does something to get attention and he loves to have an audience around him."

Order By Fax will definitely have a good sized crowd to wow when he steps on track to contest one of the two eliminations for the Maple Leaf Trot, Canada's most lucrative stake for older trotters, Saturday evening at Mohawk.

Co-owned by Zotobamo AB of Boras, Sweden, Order By Fax, who is out of the Pine Chip mare Nellies Girl, started in the 2003 Peter Haughton Memorial and has raced at multiple distances further than the standard North American mile, something that his caretaker says shouldn't be a factor when he takes to the track Saturday night.

In fact, Jansson believes that the long homestretch at Mohawk will be advantageous to the world traveler.

"He has very good speed at the end of his miles, that's been his trademark," Jansson said about Order By Fax, who in 13 starts this year has accumulated a record of five wins and two thirds, good for over $174,000 in purses. "He's not too fast right off the bat, but the long stretch here at Mohawk is really going to help him." (WEG)

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