O’Brien Award winner Monalishi posted her first Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series victory of the year, taking the $140,000 leg two event for sophomore trotting fillies in 1:52.3 on Friday, June 20 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

James MacDonald drove the Green Manalishi S-Pretty Phylly G filly into third out of post four in the early going as Exquisite Taste (J.R. Plante) took the lead through the opening fraction of :27.2, followed sharply by leg one Gold Series winner Sprite Seelster (Tyler Borth), who left well out of the 10-hole.

Near the :56 half, Borth made his move with Sprite Seelster and MacDonald followed his cover to the front. Monalishi, the 9-5 favourite, led from there, hitting the three-quarters in 1:24.4 and opening up in the lane to win by 2-1/4 lengths with a :27.4 final frame. Exquisite Taste was second and Sprite Seelster was third. 

“Ideally, [Monalishi’s] best trip isn't on the front, but the way the race sets up, you've got to kind of take what the race gives you, and J.R. got away well and got in between Tyler and I," said MacDonald in a post-race interview. “I thought she's the best horse in the race when she's right and I wanted to give her the best shot to win.

“Around the last turn, she swelled up. And I would say that was probably as good an effort as I've ever seen her have, other than maybe [last year’s] Peaceful Way -- that night she was unbelievable. But this is a good sign heading into the middle of her season and hopefully she has a big year.

“There's nothing better than driving great horses. This is what we grind all winter for to sit behind these great ones and I'm just a lucky guy, I get to sit behind quite a few of them.”

Monalishi is trained and owned, in part, by Blake MacIntosh, who shares ownership with Tim Klemencic of Trenton, Ont.

MacIntosh said he was disappointed with Monalishi’s first few starts this year. After winning her SBOA Stakes elimination, she was second in the $136,513 final on May 17 and fifth in her first $140,000 Gold Series event on May 26.

“We pulled her blood after her last start and everything was a little low and she just wasn't sharp,” said MacIntosh. “So, we worked on that all for the last couple weeks. I brought her [to Mohawk] on Tuesday and trained her a big back half in like :55 and I knew she was back to herself. I thought she was, I just hoped she'd prove it tonight and she did.”

The mile time of 1:52.3 was one-fifth of a second off her lifetime mark, taken in the Peaceful Way.

Bred by Shmuel Farhi of London, Ont., Monalishi increased her lifetime bankroll to $685,879 with $123,063 earned this year. She is now 2-1-0 in four starts in 2025 and 8-3-0 in 14 career outings. The Ontario-sired trotter was a $28,000 purchase from the 2023 Standardbred Horse Sales Company’s yearling auction in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and was named Canada’s 2024 Two-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year at the O’Brien Awards.

On Friday's undercard, Grit N Grace earned her first Mares Preferred victory as she stepped to a new lifetime mark of 1:49.3.

Driver Jody Jamieson left quickly with Grit N Grace from the outside post and shot to the lead with the rest of the field lined up in post position order behind them through first-half fractions of :26.4 and :56.1. Just past the midway mark in the $36,000 top distaff pace, the action began with 3-2 favourite Odds On Platinum (Louis-Philippe Roy) flushed out from third and applying pressure to the pacesetter as they raced to three-quarters in 1:23.2. However, Grit N Grace shrugged her off as they turned for home and strode strong to the wire with pocket-pursuer Blue Pacific (Doug McNair) only able to gain ground in deep stretch while a ground-saving Glenboro (Travis Cullen) followed in third.

A multiple Manitoba stakes winner in her debut season last year, Grit N Grace broke a three-race runner-up streak that included starts in the Margaret Juravinski, Forest City and a Mohawk Mares Preferred. Her first sub-1:50 mile tonight knocked three full seconds off her lifetime mark.

A four-year-old daughter of Im The Pied Piper out of Dragonart, Grit N Grace is trained by Mike Kwietniowski and owned and bred by Lorraine Rey of St. Claude, Man. She improved her record to 13-11-1 in 31 starts while boosting her bankroll to nearly $180,000.

Sent postward at odds of 2-1, Grit N Grace paid $6.20 to win.

In Pop-Up Series action, Vis A Vis Bluechip ($6.10) won the $25,000 final for $20,000 claiming male pacers that were non-winners of $60,000 (Ontario-sired $75,000) lifetime. Driver Tyler Jones moved him to the lead down the backstretch over Jimmy Whispers (Jody Jamieson) and widened late in the lane on the way to a 1:51.2 career-best triumph. Abovemypagegrade (Travis Cullen) edged out 7-5 favourite Lil Sebastian (Scott Young) in a show photo. 

A $25,000 claim prior to the start of the series by Mickey Sudar of Hagersville, Ont., and Arpad Szabo of Bradford, Ont., the Kyle Fellows trainee earned $23,750 throughout the Pop-Up event and was claimed from the final for $25,000. The four-year-old Bettors Delight-Sunnynseventyfive gelding will now join the Mandy Archer stable after being claimed by Jamie Copley, Kimberly Eaton and Muriel Smith.

The Friday card also included the second leg of a Pop-Up Series for pacing fillies and mares that are non-winners of $30,000 in a minimum of 10 starts in 2025 or starters for a purse of $12,000 or less in their last race. A pair of $16,000 divisions were won by Style For A Mile ($3.10) in 1:52.3 with Bob McClure driving for trainer David Menary and Bluemea Kiss ($15.80) with James MacDonald in the racebike as she equalled her lifetime mark of 1:50.1 for trainer Nick Boyd.

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

(Ontario Racing and Standardbred Canada)