Ponder qualifies 1:54.1

Ponder, winner of the 2005 Canadian Pacing Derby, qualified Tuesday morning at Mohawk and notched a 6½-length victory in 1:54.1.

The Bob McIntosh pupil had driver Jack Moiseyev in tow, and after leaving from post four, the pair sat fourth through the :28.1 quarter-mile and :56.4 opening half.

Moiseyev pulled the 5-year-old son of The Panderosa first-up on the final turn and the career earner of $999,827 reached the three-quarter pole in 1:25.4.

The 11-time winner came home with a :28.2 final quarter to draw off on his rivals.

With Jody Jamieson at her lines, 4-year-old Artsplace mare Ifyoucouldcwhati C finished second.

In 2005, Ifyoucouldcwhati C won Woodbine’s Princess Pacing Series and captured a division of the Simcoe Stakes at Mohawk en route to a $226,235 campaign.

Ponder’s mile was his second qualifying effort this year, and, according to McIntosh, the bay should be making his season’s debut at Woodbine in the next couple of weeks.

“We’ll probably be at Woodbine with him not this weekend, but next weekend [May 5 or 6],” said McIntosh, who owns Ponder along with CSX Stables of Ohio and John Fielding of Toronto, Ont. “I was happy with him. Jack [Moiseyev] said that he was perfect, so that’s good enough for me.”

In addition to winning the Canadian Pacing Derby at four, Ponder triumphed in the Molson Pace at Western Fair Raceway in London, and held his own in the stakes ranks, compiling a record of 8-11-3 from 28 starts, good for $946,812 in purses.

“He’s trained back great and come back very well. I think he’ll be ready right out of the box,” said McIntosh. “He’ll be going in against horses who are in mid-season form, so it might take a start for him to wind his clock up right tight. But, knock on wood, I couldn’t be happier with the way he has been acting soundness-wise and condition-wise.

“He’s at perfect racing weight right now. He’s gained a little bit of muscle and has grown up again, so he looks great and I’m optimistic.”

Even though the track crew did a great job with the course and the oval was rated ‘fast,’ conditions during qualifiers were less than ideal, which led the presiding ORC judges to rate the track one second slow.

Other winners on the morning included 3-year-old Bettors Delight colt Scootin Delight (1:57.4); 3-year-old Grinfromeartoear colt Bye Bye Grin (1:58.3); 3-year-old Cambest colt Cammabis (1:57.2); 3-year-old Balanced Image colt Swan Image (2:01.3); 4-year-old Angus Hall colt Algonquin; 4-year-old Muscles Yankee gelding Muscles Serenade (1:59.3); 7-year-old Lindy Lane gelding Cordial Martini (1:58) and 3-year-old Run The Table filly Texas Sweetheart (1:58).

Whatthehecklavec and Keystone Dawn were also set to qualify on the morning, but were scratched.



(WEG release)

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