Sophomore pacing fillies took the track at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Thursday (Sept. 28) evening in two Ontario Sires Stakes Gold divisions, each the fifth leg of the series and worth a $101,300 prize. Momentary Control and One Last Wish took their respective splits, each posting a 1:51.1 achievement in their miles.
Momentary Control won the first split with Tyler Jones in the bike for Dustin Jones.
Tyler Jones sent the filly from post six in the field of seven straight to the front, opening up the mile with a first panel in :26.2. Savethelastdance (James MacDonald) swept around the leader before the :56 half to take over and continued to lead at the three-quarters in 1:24.3. Jones tugged on his right line and moved first over at the third quarter panel before taking over in the final turn. Momentary Control extended her lead to win by two lengths in a career-best 1:51.1. Talk Curdy To Me (Louis-Philippe Roy) finished second and Savethelastdance took the show spot.
"I think she matched up well with the Gold fillies all year and she won a Gold last year, too," said Tyler Jones. "It was a really evenly matched field. I think any filly could win any week and she's been racing really really well her last three starts. I thought I was going to win three-in-a-row, she just got picked off last week. She cut the mile in 1:50 and I was pretty confident that she could do that again tonight. James covered me up. That was a good horse to follow, she was the favourite, and it just worked out."
Andrea Lea Racingstables Inc. and Colin McKenna bred and co-own the three-year-old daughter of Control The Moment and the Shadow Play mare, Breezy. She owns three wins, two seconds and two thirds this season in 11 trips to the track with $110,706 banked. The filly moved her career sum to $198,216 with four win tallies. She paid $9 to win.
In the second division, Paul MacDonell piloted Ken Sucee's trainee One Last Wish to victory.
MacDonell and One Last Wish got away third in their field of seven, sitting behind leading Bettors Punch (Jonathan Drury) and Ima Doll (Tyler Borth) in second as the opening panel was reached in :27.1. MacDonell swooped to the top to take over as he and One Last Wish rounded out two more panels in :56.1 and 1:23.3. Down the lane, Mist Amber (Sylvain Filion) provided a fierce challenge, but One Last Wish stuck her head out at the wire to win. Lyons Bettorday (Doug McNair) rounded out the top three.
"She's come back phenomenal this year. Right from the start when she qualified early in April or May, she was strong and a lot stronger than last year and she's carried it right through to the year," said MacDonell. "She just floats over the ground. She can go free-legged or with hopples and she's got that determination to go with it."
Breeders Brian and David Legge co-own the three-year-old daughter of Bettors Delight and the Art Major mare, Arts Diva. She earned her fifth victory in 14 starts this season and has $260,066 in seasonal earnings. She made her eighth trip to the winner's circle and moved her career total to $297,802. She paid $5.90 to win.
To view Thursday's harness racing results, click the following link: Thursday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.