Emmetts Buddy (In The Irons), a Manitoba-bred winner of the $32,000 Preferred-2 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, made it a historic day for harness racing in Western Canada. The horse had been off the track for four months.
The gelding was maintained in fourth place by regular driver Tyler Borth through the quarter in :27 and a half in :54.3, which were set by Whichwaytothebeach (Sylvain Filion) and Sometime Somewhere (James MacDonald), respectively. Around 1:23, Emmetts Bully skidded off the cones behind Louis-Philippe Roy's Jabberwocky, and the two pursued Whichway to the Beach down the final stretch.
At first, Jabberywocky moved up to attack the leader, leaving his cover behind, then Emmetts Buddy took off and engaged them head-on. Whichwaytothebeach lost late, and Emmetts Buddy won 13-1, surpassing Jabberwocky at the line.
After losing by a neck in the 1:50 mile, Jabberwocky came in second. Whichwaytothebeach came in third place.
On the same day that Emmetts Buddy triumphed, Shark Week, the first horse in Western Canada to break the 1:50 mark, returned from a four-month hiatus and won his 17th consecutive Preferred at Century Downs in Calgary. Sired, bred, and raised in Manitoba, Emmetts Buddy arrived at Woodbine Mohawk Park at the end of 2022 and ascended to the top of the class ladder in September of 2023. On August 3, 2023, he triumphed in 1:49, making history as the first horse from Manitoba to do it. The five-year-old is prepared by Michael Kwietniowski for Arthur Rey, the breeder and owner of St. Claude. After 53 starts, Emmetts Buddy has already won 20 times and amassed $292,719 in earnings.