Stars Out In Full Force At Mohawk

L A DELIGHT.jpg
Published: July 9, 2016 10:48 pm EDT

There was no shortage of talent Saturday evening at Mohawk Racetrack as the Campbellville hosted a pair of OSS Gold Series divisions for three-year-old pacing fillies in addition to the finals of the Town Pro and Summertime Series and a salty group of six in the Preferred Pace.

L A Delight hauled home the hardware in the first $105,000 OSS Gold Series division for the team of driver Randy Waples and trainer Bob McIntosh. The homebred got away third from the Post 1, but Waples had her on the move shortly after Good Will Hanover posted the opening quarter of :27. L A Delight accelerated to the top and cruised through middle panels of :55.3 and 1:23.3. She stormed home in :27.4 to win by 3-1/2 lengths in 1:51.2 over the dead-heating tandem of Party In Rome and Good Will Hanover.

“She’s rounding into mid-season form. We couldn’t be happier with her at this point,” said trainer Bob McIntosh. “She makes us all look good.”

Sent off as the 1-2 favourite, the daughter of Bettors Delight-West Of L A is now 7-for-7 in OSS events. She improved her 2016 record 3-1-1 from six trips to the track for the partnership of Robert McIntosh Stables Inc, C S X Stables and Al McIntosh Holdings Inc. The 14-time winner has banked more than $890,000 to date.

Chris Christoforou picked up a live catch-drive on Lay Lady Lay, who pulled off a 7-1 upset in her $105,000 OSS Gold Series division. The daughter of Up The Credit-Lady D M got away fourth from Post 8 while Bourbon Seelster and Windsun Glory tussled to the quarter in :27.1. Lay Lady Lay was on the move in the backstretch, and she eventually worked her to the top before posting middle fractions of :55.3 and 1:23.4. She dug in for a :28.1 closing quarter while posting the win by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:52 over race favourite Cracklin Rosie. Windsun Glory rounded out the Triactor ticket.

“He drove her twice last year, he’s never been beat with her now, actually, so he knows the filly,” said trainer Chris Matthews of Christoforou’s race strategy. “She’s a little bit easier to drive this year than she was last year, so yeah, he was full of confidence that’s for sure. We always knew she had potential, we had a couple setbacks, but we knew she’d be better at three, she was so big and growthy. She hasn’t had a lot of luck, but we always thought she’d be pretty competitive with this group of fillies. She can be a handful. She’s just so big, she doesn’t even know what she’s doing, she doesn’t care.

“When we bought her I started getting phone calls that everybody wanted a piece of her,” added Matthews. “The one posse is myself and two of my friends I grew up with (Jeff Bryan and Desmond Scott). My group of friends I grew up with they used to call us the Orangeville posse, so we went with that, and then two of my partners on the horse are Steve Bastead and Steve Byers, so that’s two Steve’s, and the three brothers are Gordie, Gary and Glen Lyon, so that formed the three brothers. They all wanted in so we split her up between everybody, just to keep everybody happy, and they are. Everyone is enjoying it and having some fun.”

The victory was her third of the season and the sixth of her career. The $52,500 payday was her biggest haul to date and it bumped her overall bankroll to $179,529.

Sintra was sent off as the 1-9 favourite in the $47,000 Summertime Series Final, and he didn’t disappoint his army of pari-mutuel backers. Jody Jamieson got away third win the Dave Menary pupil while Major Hill shot to the front and sliced out the opening quarter in :27. Sintra sprinted off the rail in the backstretch and took over the lead at the mid-way point in :55.2. He sped to the three-quarter pole in 1:23 before roaring home in :27 to win by four lengths over Major Hill in 1:50. Blayde Hanover was a distant third.

Brad Gray, Michael Guerriero and Menary Racing Inc share ownership on the three-year-old son of Mach Three-Dancin Barefoot. After going 0-for-3 as a rookie, Sintra has responded with a 7-1-0 record from eight starts this season. He’s stashed away more than $145,000 in his career.

Lindys Nightmare used similar tactics for driver Rick Zeron to capture the $48,800 Town Pro Series Final later on the card. The three-year-old daughter of Western Terror-Lindys Bandita, who was sent off as the 1-5 choice, was fourth and parked at the quarter pole, but she swept to the lead in the backstretch and served up middle fractions of :54.4 and 1:23.2 before using a :28 closing quarter to win by 7-3/4 lengths over Queen Ideal in 1:51.2. Southwind Tango took home the show dough.

Frank Antonacci trains the lightly-raced homebred for Lindy Farms Of Conn of Enfield, CT. Unraced as a rookie, the filly is now 4-for-5 this season. The lion’s share of Saturday’s purse haul bumped her cash stash to $46,400.

Evenin Of Pleasure made it back-to-back wins in the $34,000 Preferred Pace, and he did so in gate-to-wire fashion for driver Sylvain Filion. The Richard Moreau trainee whacked out fractions of :27.1, :55.3 and 1:22.2 before sprinting home in :27.3 to win by a half-length margin over Nickle Bag in 1:50. Ellis Park was third.

Gestion J Y Blais Inc of Montreal, QC owns the six-year-old son of Dragon Again-Armbro Amour, who was sent off as the 4-5 favourite. The 20-time winner bumped his lifetime earnings to $668,597.

(With quotes from the OSS)

To view results for Saturday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Saturday Results – Mohawk Racetrack.

Tags
Have something to say about this? Log in or create an account to post a comment.