Louis-Philippe Roy recorded his 1,000th career driving victory with an Ontario Sires Stakes score on Friday evening (August 10) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Roy, 28, entered the evening just two wins shy of the milestone and proceeded to post three wins in seven drives.

The Mont-Joli, Que. native picked up his first win of the evening in the sixth race with pacing mare Cenalta Call Girl and just three races later hit the 1,000-win mark with rookie trotting filly Hp Titania Runner in a $98,800 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold event.

Roy, who currently sits atop the OSS driver standings, eased Hp Titania Runner away from post three and watched from mid-pack as Petro Hall rolled to a :28.3 opening quarter. Moving steadily up the outside behind Royal Rhythm as Petro Hall carried on to a :58.3 half and 1:28.2 three-quarters, Hp Titania Runner turned for home with a clear view of the finish line and powered by the leaders to a 1:57.3 victory. Petro Hall settled for second, one and one-half length behind the fan favourite, and Champagne Jane closed hard to finish third.

“She’s a nice filly with a lot of speed. I had to be a little bit careful with her tonight to keep her trotting, but she wasn’t tired at the end, so I hope she keeps on showing more and more,” said Roy. “I’m happy for the owner-breeders. They are among the first people that gave me stakes drives while I was racing in Quebec, so to win Golds here with them is very nice.”

Roy steers the daughter of E L Titan and $466,034 winner Canaco Runner for Quebec owner-breeders Claude Hamel of Ayer’s Cliff and Michel Damphousse of Louiseville, and trainer Rene Bourassa of Fergus, Ont. In two starts, the filly has earned $82,600 and shares ownership of top spot in the division standings with the evening's other Gold winner Cambridge Kate and Petro Hall, each filly tallying 100 points in the first three Gold events.

Roy is currently this season’s Woodbine leading driver and his climb from Quebec fairs to top driver in Canada has been unprecedented. Roy’s first drive took place in 2008 and by the end of 2014 he had 253 races under his belt. That number has skyrocketed to over 4,800.

“I’m always telling the same story, but every time I take my time to look at where I was just two, three years ago and where I am now, it’s always over my expectations,” said Roy following his 1,000th win. “I don’t think anyone would expect to go so quickly from the fair racetrack to the biggest track in Canada.”

The young reinsman appeared on the Woodbine circuit in late 2016 and has been racking up the victories at a rapid pace, while becoming a go-to driver for many top trainers. Roy posted 380 wins last season and currently sits at 260 for the current year.

Roy just missed the milestone mark one race prior in the $30,000 Mares Preferred Pace as his popular pacesetter Firebby A was caught at the wire by a from-last Witch Dali and Jody Jamieson in 1:51.1. Richard Moreau trains the winning seven-year-old mare, who has won three straight for owner Brad Grant of Milton, Ont. An Ontario-sired daughter of Dali, Witch Dali notched her 30th career win and sent her bankroll over the $600,000 mark.

The win was the second on the card for Jamieson, who had an opportunity to make amends for a decision he made in the July 15 season opener of the Ontario Sires Stakes.

In that event, Jamieson chose Shesa Sweetheart over Cambridge Kate and watched as the filly he had qualified and driven in one overnight event swept to victory with Roy in the race bike while he settled for fourth with the pacesetting fan favourite. With Shesa Sweetheart absent from Friday’s contest, trainer Carl Jamieson chose to give his son a second chance at steering Cambridge Kate and the reinsman took full advantage of the opportunity, guiding the filly to her second straight Gold victory.

“I made the right choice this time,” Jamieson quipped. “Actually, I didn’t have any choice so I was happy that Dad gave me the call on her tonight.”

Starting from post eight, Cambridge Kate trotted strongly away from the start and settled briefly in third as Royaltys Pearl took the field to a :28.3 quarter. Soon after the quarter-mile pole, Jamieson sent Cambridge Kate after the lead and the filly was showing the way by the :59.2 half. Under pressure from Presto Change O around the final turn, Cambridge Kate reached the thee-quarters in 1:28.4 and then dug in through the stretch to secure a one and one-quarter length victory in a personal best 1:57.3. Angies Luckeylady closed well to be second and Presto Change O was third.

“She’s just perfect really, she does nothing wrong on the track and just goes,” said the Moffat, Ont. resident of the fan favourite. “I had the chance to retake the lead easily tonight, so I did, and she did the rest.”

Rockwood, Ont. resident Carl Jamieson shares ownership of Cambridge Kate with Glengate K Farms of Erin, Ont., and Dr. Robert Boyce of London, Ont. The daughter of E L Titan and former OSS competitor Aimees Image was a $44,000 acquisition from last fall’s London Selected Yearling Sale and has recouped $85,400 through her first four starts.

The two-year-old trotting fillies will make their fourth Gold Series start at Flamboro Downs on September 25.

Ontario Sires Stakes action returns to Woodbine Mohawk Park on Thursday, Aug. 16 with the fourth Gold leg for the three-year-old trotting fillies. Post time for the program is 7:10 p.m.

To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.

(With files from WEG & OSS)