Returning to the scene of her biggest wins, older pacing mare Grace Hill showed some serious speed on Friday, Sept. 8 in her prep mile for next weekend's Milton Stakes final.
One of the notable pacers entered in the third qualifier on Friday at Woodbine Mohawk Park, Grace Hill and driver Doug McNair sat off the tempo set by The Greek Freak (Gino Toscani). After fractions of :28.1 and :59 to the half, The Greek Freak picked it up in the third quarter to hit the third beam in 1:26. Grace Hill was still nearly three lengths off the leader at that point, but she quickly made gains. Sprinting home in :25.2, Grace Hill powered past the pacesetter for the win by just over a length while stopping the clock in 1:52.
Tom Hill owns and Virgil Morgan Jr. trains Grace Hill (Always B Miki - Western Silk), who set a 1:47.4 Canadian record in her Roses Are Red win this past June. In 10 seasonal starts, the five-year-old has yet to miss the board, posting a 7-2-1 summary with $371,276 in earnings.
Grace Hill is one of nine mares set to compete in the 2023 Milton Stakes final, with that draw taking place during the Saturday, Sept. 9 card of harness racing at Mohawk.
The video stream from the Friday session is available below.
For results from the qualifying session, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).