O'Brien Award winner A Clean Deal made it two-for-two in 2026 Ontario Sires Stakes action with a career-best 1:49.3 victory on Friday, June 26 at Woodbine Mohawk Park in the $140,000 Gold Series leg two event for sophomore pacing fillies.

Doug McNair drove the slight 6-5 favourite to victory for trainer Kyle Fellows and owners Yolanda Fellows of Rockwood, Ont., Blair Corbeil of Leduc, Alta., Windermere Stable of New York City, New York and James Ross of Wingham, Ont. A Super Final champion last year, A Clean Deal won one of two Gold opening leg divisions on May 23 at Mohawk.

In Friday’s start, Jen Tilly (Trevor Henry) pressed hard off the gate from post nine and led the field to the sharp :25.4 opening quarter with Pownal Bay Bobbi (James MacDonald) on her heels in the pocket and A Clean Deal in third. McNair had A Clean Deal out and moving up the backstretch and on top by the :54.3 half. Daya (Jody Jamieson) took her shot before the three-quarters but never quite reached the leader. A Clean Deal hit the three-quarters in 1:22.3 then pulled away in mid-stretch. She defeated Daya by 1-1/4 lengths with Pownal Bay Bobbi rallying inside third.

“She kind of paced away a little bit down by the wire,” commented McNair in a post-race interview. “I said to the Fellows [family], ‘One [ear] plug came out, the other one didn’t,’ but she paced through the lane real strong.”

The victory was the first start since the daughter of Cattlewash out of Ideal Talker finished eighth in the $420,000 Fan Hanover Stakes (Grade 1) on June 13 at Mohawk. A Clean Deal, Canada’s 2025 Two-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year, paid $4.40 for the bounce back victory.

“She had the 10-hole in the final and I didn't drive her very good in the elim,” said McNair. “I kind of stretched the favourite out, the filly [Loua Dipa] that ended up being the winner of the Fan Hanover final. I stretched her a little too far and she ended up going a big three-quarters and just sucked the wind out of us. It was a bad drive on my part, but sometimes she makes up for it. Tonight, she was just bionic. We rolled out of there in :25 and she kept going.

“[What makes her so good] is you can start and stop her. A lot of fillies, you start them up like that, you won't get them stopped.”

The victory improved A Clean Deal to 4-0-1 in six 2026 starts -- all in stakes action, including a sweep of the SBOA Stakes elim and final -- and 10-0-2 in 13 career starts. She upped her seasonal bankroll to $205,262 and her career total to $659,726 with the win.

Friday's card had the second leg of a Pop-Up Series with repeat winners, including Laneside Incontrol (1:51.2), a Murray Brethour trainee who capped off a driving grand slam for McNair. The Down Under mare Sensationalize A took a new lifetime mark of 1:50.3 winning her $20,000 division for Travis and Jodie Cullen. The conditioned series is for pacing fillies and mares that were starters for a purse of $12,000 or less in their last four starts (winners over $50,000 in 2026 are not eligible). 

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

(Ontario Racing & Standardbred Canada)