Witch Dali was a wire-to-wire winner for the second straight week in the $30,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred Pace while setting a new national season's record for aged pacing mares on Friday night (June 3) at Mohawk Racetrack.
Driven by Jody Jamieson, Witch Dali out-sprinted 6-5 favourite Solar Sister (Doug McNair) off the gate, leaving just to her outside from post five, and went unchallenged through fractions of :26.1, :54.2 and 1:21.4 en route to a career-best 1:49.1 victory. Solar Sister chased Witch Dali home in second-place, finishing one length behind, while Much Adoo (Randy Waples) closed along the pylons in third.
Sent postward as the 9-5 second betting choice, Witch Dali paid $5.90 to win.
Witch Dali now boasts 11 top-three finishes, including five wins, from 14 starts this year and her annual income climbed over the $100,000 mark. Richard Moreau trains the five-year-old Dali-Whitesand Gem mare, a 19-time career winner, for owners Brad Grant of Milton, Ont., and the New Jersey-based Alagna Racing LLC.
This was the second week in a row that Witch Dali lowered her lifetime mark, following a 1:50 winning effort on May 28. Her latest 1:49.1 mile was two-fifths of a second faster than Waasmula's May 7 mark that was the previous Canadian season's record for distaffers.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.