A Clean Deal Turns Heads In OSS Gold Win

A Clean Deal

A Clean Deal impressed in her second career start on Friday, July 4 as she blitzed the Woodbine Mohawk Park oval in 1:50.4 to win the first Ontario Sires Stakes Gold two-year-old contest of the season.

The filly raced out from post six under a tight hold from Doug McNair and took the two-hole behind longshot Jen Tilly (Billy Davis Jr.), who provided a :27.2 first quarter in the $140,000 Gold for rookie pacing fillies. A Clean Deal easily circled to the front on the backstretch, putting up a :57 half before Th Check Me Out (Tyler Borth) rocketed out of third and took the lead in a flash heading into the final turn.

Th Check Me Out led through three-quarters in 1:24.2 with first-over favourite Shes A Bulldog (James MacDonald) breaking on the final turn, leaving the leader and A Clean Deal to battle it out. A Clean Deal peeled out of the pocket in the stretch and, under reserved encouragement from McNair, grinded down Th Check Me Out and rolled by her to win by a length. Jay (Bob McClure) finished third. The winner returned $17.20.

A Clean Deal, who debuted successfully on June 27, is now two-for-two with $78,000 in earnings for trainer Kyle Fellows. The daughter of Cattlewash-Ideal Talker was a $27,027 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale purchase by owners N. Yolanda Fellows of Rockwood, Ont., Blair Corbeil of Leduc, Alta., Windermere Stable LLC of New York, N.Y., and James Ross of Wingham, Ont. She was bred by Winbak Farm of Chesapeake City, Md. The win made A Clean Deal the fastest a two-year-old in Canada this season, dethroning Th Check Me Out.

The next Gold leg for two-year-old pacing fillies is set for July 17 at Mohawk.

Grit N Grace continued her reign over Canada’s top distaff pacing class, winning her third straight $36,000 Fillies and Mares Preferred Pace. Sent away the 2-1 favourite, she forged forward from the inside post for Jody Jamieson to take the pocket to the quarter in :26.1 before sweeping to the front. Her lead was short-lived, as Odds On Platinum (Louis-Philippe Roy) marched forward to take over before the half in :54.4.

Grit N Grace, in the pocket to three-quarters in 1:22.1, angled off the cones as they swung into the stretch and bore down on Odds On Platinum. As Grit N Grace worked on her, Angostura Hanover (Trevor Henry) fired up the cones, and Caviar N Crackers (Ed Hensley) closed on the outside. Grit N Grace, though, finished off Odds On Platinum in the final strides and held on to prevail by a nose over Angostura Hanover in 1:49.4. Caviar N Crackers was third over Odds On Platinum in a four-across finish.

Grit N Grace is now eight-for-17 this year for trainer Michael Kwietniowski. The Manitoba-bred mare, owned by Lorraine Rey of St. Claude, Man., moved to Ontario in November 2024 and rose to the Preferred ranks this season, taking her first win against Canada’s top mares on June 20. The four-year-old daughter of Im The Pied Piper-Dragonart has won 15 of 33 career starts and has banked $215,305.

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

(Standardbred Canada)

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