Georgian Downs hosted the third leg of the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series for freshman trotters on Tuesday (Aug. 8) evening and Willys Home Run continued her series sweep with an open lengths victory in a $100,400 division for two-year-old fillies.
James MacDonald sent Willys Home Run out of post three and to the top. Separating herself from her competitors through every panel, Willys Home Run posted fractions in :29.3, :59.1 and 1:28 before winning by 4-1/4 lengths in 1:56.1. Classy Royale (Jody Jamieson) finished second and Valuable Miss (Trevor Henry) was third.
“It was the two best fillies in the division so far, Jody’s filly, and mine,” MacDonald told Ontario Racing. “Ideally I wanted to be forwardly placed, or ahead of Jody if I could, and just in a spot where I could get a chance to race her and let her be great, and it worked out tonight.”
Kyle Fellows trains Willys Home Run for the partnership of Dr. Sara Gatchell, Jake and Reg Higgs, and Yolanda Fellows. In four starts, the daughter of Archangel-Rite Outa The Park has now moved her career earnings to $157,300 to go along with a record of 3-1-0. She paid $3.20 to win.
“She’s a strong filly with a big strong gait. Around the last turn Jody inched out off my back and I was confident I had quite a bit of trot left,” said MacDonald. “I just tapped her on the tail and the second I asked her she just took off. She’s developing into a very good filly and passing every test with flying colours.”
Despite broken equipment, No One followed a gate-to-wire journey to win the second OSS Gold division for freshman trotting fillies on the evening card, a race worth $101,300 in purse money.
Driven by her trainer, No One was sent forward from post four by Bruce Richardson as the gate pulled away. No One secured the lead and maintained a 1-1/2-length cushion as she clicked out panels in :30, 1:00.1 and 1:29.1. Down the stretch, Evolving (James MacDonald) quickly closed the gap en route to the wire, but No One stuck her head out to win in 1:58.3. Mass Cara (Trevor Henry) rounded out the top three.
Richardson owns No One (Lookslikeachpndale-Stormont Kate) as she won her first race in three starts, producing $75,698 in earnings.
Willowtime and Bob McClure held nothing back in their field of nine trotting colts going for $103,100.
McClure and the Mark Etsell trainee were not fazed by the 33-1 longshot odds or post nine and left hard from the gate. Willowtime hit the quarter in :28.4, nine lengths ahead of his opponents. As he swooped by the half in :57.4 and three-quarters in 1:27.2, Willowtime had opened up to a 12-length advantage. With a :30.3 last quarter, Willowtime finished a full two seconds and 10 lengths ahead of the field in 1:58. Maestro Seelster (Travis Cullen), off at odds of 39-1, finished second with 69-1 longshot What About Elmo (Jason Ryan) third.
After three qualifying miles, it was the career debut for the freshman Lookslikeachpndale-Sos Respect colt owned by Mark Etsell, Terry Devos and Peter Porter. Willowtime paid $67.70 to win.
Soar Higher wrapped up the OSS action for the evening at Georgian, taking home the winner's share of the $102,200 purse for two-year-old trotting colts.
Mrstery Deal (Sylvain Filion) was the early pacesetter for the mile and took the field to the quarter in :29. Soar Higher and James MacDonald sat to the right of Mrstery Deal through the opening panel.
“I wanted to take advantage of his good gait -- he trots really nice and had good gate speed -- so I took him out there as good as I could,” said MacDonald. “It didn’t work out, so I had to take a hold and I was lucky to get in a spot.”
Myretirementdream (Jody Jamieson) took command before the half in :58.4, pushing Mrstery Deal back to second and Soar Higher into third along the rail. An outer charge sparked by Masstercraft (Trevor Henry) brought himself into second and shuffled Mrstery Deal and Soar Higher back by one more as the third quarter pole was reached in 1:28.1. After a stretch battle, Soar Higher prevailed by a neck in 1:57.3 over favoured Myretirementdream. Maastercraft finished third.
“I had horses around me, and I thought if I got lucky, I could get out,” said MacDonald. “I was able to slide out on Trevor’s back and then in the last turn I flipped him out three-wide and it turned into a great trip."
Bax Stable, Brad Grant, David Hudson and Harbor Racing Stable LLC co-own the Resolve-Glide By gelding as he won his first race and moved his record to 1-2-1 in four starts. Trained by Matthew Bax, Soar Higher has now banked $90,195. He paid $6.20 to win.
To view Tuesday's harness racing results, click the following link: Tuesday Results - Georgian Downs.