Bobcat wins qualie easy

On what turned out to be a less than pristine morning to race a horse, Primetime Bobcat put in his first charted mile in seven weeks during the Friday qualifying session at Mohawk. The 9-year-old son of Abercrombie went through a rather eventful dash before hitting the wire first in 1:58.4 for driver Jody Jamieson. The track had been deemed "good" and two seconds slow by the residing ORC judges.

"With all things considered, we were very happy with him this morning," Montini, 37, said afterward in the paddock.

After leaving from post five, Jamieson had to keep his mount's composure, as Brooklets Triplet (Mario Baillargeon) reared up in front of the 42-time career winner while on a nasty break. From there, Jamieson nestled the gelding into the two-hole prior to the :28 opening quarter.

Jamieson tipped Primetime Bobcat first-up early in the backstretch, but Video Express (Mike Saftic) came three wide from third and clicked off the half-mile clock in :59.3. Along the final turn, Jamieson and Primetime Bobcat cleared to the lead and then tripped the three-quarter timer in 1:30.3. The duo came home with a solid :28.1 final quarter-mile before notching the four-length victory going away.

"It was a very good mile for the conditions he went against today," Montini said. "Jody said he was fantastic. He kept him outside because the footing was a little better out there and he had a clear lane, so he sort of got parked for three-quarters of a mile. He was pretty handy at the end and the earplugs were still in, so I think he was pretty strong."

Montini has yet to decide what the former world record holder (1:47.2) will do off the qualifier.

"We got invited to an invite race in the states, but I'm not sure which direction we are headed yet," explained Montini. "We'll see how he comes out of this. If we are going to stick around (Mohawk), we might qualify him again, otherwise we will probably go to the invite." (WEG)

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