James MacDonald sweeps New Holland Series finals

An extra week was worth the wait for Locatelli, Nautical Hanover and driver James MacDonald as they captured Saturday’s New Holland Series finals at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

The New Holland Series finals were pushed back seven days after last Saturday’s card was cancelled due to extreme wind.

Track record holder Locatelli inherited the lead on the final turn and would hold on to win the C$72,000 New Holland Trotting Series final.

MacDonald fired Locatelli out from post eight to head towards the early lead, but top contender HP Mama B also pushed forward coming out of the first turn to grab command through an opening-half on 56 seconds. After looking strong on the lead, HP Mama B suddenly went off-stride racing towards three-quarters, leaving Locatelli to reach the third station in 1:25 1/5.

With Franks Angel a few lengths back and the others several more, Locatelli would seal the deal by trotting into a stiff wind to win in 1:56 2/5. Franks Angel was second by a length and a quarter, while Sermon rallied for third.

Driver MacDonald completed the series finale double by guiding Nautical Hanover to a 4 1/4 lengths score in the C$70,500 championship of the New Holland Pacing Series. The victory gave the Ben Baillargeon trainee a sweep of the series.

Camara Moment blasted out at the start to grab the early lead and would show the way for a large portion of the race. After leading by the half in 56 2/5, Camara Moment was overtaken on the final turn when Nautical Hanover attacked first-up from fourth to lead by three-quarters in 1:24 4/5.

In the stretch, Nautical Hanover and MacDonald blew things wide open to secure the 1:53 2/5 victory. Baillargeon’s other starter Commanding Officer came away in a scramble for second, while Momas Son Byrne was third.

Nautical Hanover is now three-for-four on the season with C$68,010 earned for owner Richard Berthiaume. The 4-year-old was acquired by owner Berthiaume and trainer Baillargeon in November.