With a pedigree that's full of noted stakes performers, it's not necessarily a surprise to see two-year-old pacing filly Romantic Beauty prevailing in a qualifying effort.

The 14th foal of Precious Beauty, Romantic Beauty is a sibling to the likes of award winners Sportswriter and Precocious Beauty, with Tall Dark Stranger, Crack Shot and Captain Quarters close by on the family tree for breeder-owner Jim Avritt of Kentucky.

Interestingly, Romantic Beauty is the result of the first date for Precious Beauty with arguably North America's preeminent pacing stallion of the past quarter century: Bettors Delight.

With regular pilot Doug McNair lined up for drives at Yonkers Raceway on Friday night, trainer Gregg McNair secured the services of Louis-Philippe Roy for Romantic Beauty during the session of qualifiers at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Friday, June 27. Roy sat the pocket behind Bet On Jane (Todd Ratchford) through fractions of :29.4, 1:00.3 and 1:29.4 and then angled his pacer out for the stretch drive. With a few shakes of the lines, Romantic Beauty closed willingly in :26.4 for Roy and tripped the timer in 1:56.4 -- the fastest qualifying mile of the morning. Bet On Jane was three parts of a length back in second with Talbot Kristen (Bob McClure) pacing home well to round out the top trio.

All of the winning qualifiers on the trot were in the 2:00 range, with Bingo Night having her card filled fastest during the morning session with a 2:00.1 tally. The winning trip mimicked that of Romantic Beauty, with Tyler Jones seated in the two-hole behind Who Dares Wins (Matt Bax) through splits of :31.2, 1:01.4 and 1:31.4 before emerging at the head of the lane for a late kick and delivering a :28.1 final quarter for the 1-1/2 length victory. Chex Mix (Jonathan Drury) was next across the line, followed by Twin B Showbiz (Roy).

A homebred owned by trainer Dustin Jones (as Dustin Jones Stables Inc.) along with Hebert Horses Inc., Bingo Night (Green Manalishi S - Cant Stop Tommi) also includes Sjoblom Racing Inc. of Delray Beach, Fl. on the ownership.

The full video stream is available below. 

For results from the qualifying session, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).

(Standardbred Canada)