Defending champion and current divisional point leader Adare Castle added another Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series victory to her resume, equalling her lifetime mark in the $156,300 third leg division for three-year-old trotting fillies on Friday evening (July 22) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Sent postward as the overwhelming 1-5 favourite, Adare Castle and driver James MacDonald left from post six between Saundra (Sylvain Filion) and outsider Grace And Favor (Scott Young) -- the latter filly made front but Adare Castle pressed on to take over through a :27.3 opening quarter.

As the favourite took a second quarter breather, 9-2 second choice Mischevious Rose (Bob McClure) went first-over from fourth to challenge approaching the half in :57 but could only make it to Adare Castle's saddlepad as she trotted on to three-quarters in 1:24.2 and opened up down the stretch to win in 1:53.2 by 2-1/4 lengths. Saundra shook loose late to get up for second over Mischevious Rose.

Adare Castle paid $2.60 to win and $2.10 to place. There was no show wagering. 

Mark Etsell of Rockwood, Ont. trains and co-owns the Muscle Mass-Pacific Edge filly with Robert Newton of Walkerton, Ont., Graham Hopkins of Chelsey, Ont., and Peter Porter of Port Dover, Ont.

Adare Castle swept the SBOA Stakes elimination and final and now has two Gold wins and a second from her first five sophomore starts with seasonal earnings climbing to $283,887.

An O'Brien Award finalist as a two-year-old, she has finished no worse than second in 14 starts lifetime, with 11 wins and nearly $770,000 in purse money.

The three-year-old trotting fillies will face off again in the fourth Gold leg on August 15 at Grand River Raceway.

Woodbine's Early Pick-5 will have a $42,934.86 carryover after there were no winning five of five tickets on Friday’s Late Pick-5. The total pool for Saturday's Early Pick-5 is estimated around $250,000. The Early Pick-5 starts in Race 1, offering a low 15 per cent takeout and 20-cent minimum. A free past performance program for Saturday's card is available on the Woodbine website. Post time is 7 p.m.

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