Trot Insider has caught up with trainer Bob McIntosh for an update on Only Take Cash, his Ontario-connected trotting filly that recently earned a significant accolade south of the border.

Only Take Cash, a daughter of the McIntosh-trained stars Cash Hall and Armbro Affair, was named Ohio’s two-year-old trotting filly of the year this past weekend (Jan. 19) during the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association’s annual awards banquet. To see the rundown of the award winners, click here.

“It was an honour for her to be named Ohio’s two-year-old trotting filly of the year,” McIntosh, of Windsor, Ont., told Trot Insider. “They’ve got a good program there, so for her to receive that distinction is a real honour for her. We’re proud of what she was able to accomplish last year.”

“She was just a super filly,” said Marv Chantler, of Loretto, Ont., who co-owns Only Take Cash along with McIntosh and Dave Boyle (of Bowmanville, Ont.). “She comes to race every single day. She’s professional, she’s honest, and she just trots.”

A shot of the winner’s circle after Only Take Cash captured her 2018 Ohio Sires Stakes Super Final

Those that followed Only Take Cash through her fledgling campaign surely aren’t surprised that she has scooped up the year-end hardware in the Buckeye State, given what she was able to accomplish in her nine-race season.

When all was said and done in 2018, Only Take Cash won eight of her starts. Her only defeat came in what was her second pari-mutuel appearance, a conditioned race at Northfield Park, where she was just collared late and was beaten by a neck.

From there on out, all Only Take Cash did was win, win, win.

The smallish bay filly went on to tally seven consecutive victories, which included her $275,000 Ohio Sires Stakes Super Final at Scioto Downs. She followed that performance up with a gutsy, first-over trip in her division of the Ohio Breeders Championships on Jugette Day. The grinding effort was put in over the half-mile course at Ohio’s Delaware County Fair. The mile was the last of her inaugural season, and McIntosh has explained to Trot Insider that she ended her rookie campaign in great form.

“She ended off her season phenomenally,” McIntosh said. “In her last race, at Delaware, she was parked for two turns and came out of it fine. Given how she was staked (she was staked lightly), she had about as good a two-year-old season as one could ask for.”

Only Take Cash, pictured victorious in her OBC division during 2018 Jugette Day in Delaware, Ohio

While discussing Only Take Cash with Trot Insider last fall, McIntosh had explained why the youngster had been staked conservatively. The filly ultimately emerged to be a talented stakes player, which surely made McIntosh and company wish that they had paid her into some of the sport’s more higher-profile events. Things are always easier to analyze when they are in the rearview mirror, although McIntosh has opted to focus on the future and the situation’s silver lining, which could pay off in spades throughout 2019.

“One of the things that was really impressive to me,” said McIntosh, “was that she never had to go to the bottom of the well, so to speak, at any point during her season, which also really bodes very well for her three-year-old campaign.”

Only Take Cash demanded just that in 2018, as she raced her way to $275,500 in purses and took her mark of 1:56 over Scioto Downs’ five-eighths-mile oval. She’ll be looking to stash more ducats in her satchel in 2019, and McIntosh has explained that the filly has started to get herself ready for this year’s stakes season.

“She’s always been a smaller filly, but she has been doing some growing,” McIntosh told Trot Insider. “She’s bulked up some, and is doing well. You tend to get concerned when they don’t grow between two and three, but she’s been getting bigger, and it should do nothing but help her this year.”

In terms of where Only Take Cash is at currently, McIntosh has told Trot Insider that he is keeping his youngster loose and limber and is doing all he can to get a deep foundation into her prior to stakes season.

“We had shut her down after Delaware (September 19), but I started her back jogging on December 1. She’s been in 2:25. We’re looking forward to what 2019 has to offer for her.”

If all goes according to plan, the upcoming season could be a bit of a stepping-out party for Only Take Cash.

“We’re hoping that she is going to be able to stick her toe in the waters when it comes to some of the bigger stakes,” said McIntosh.