A Clean Deal remained perfect in the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold series this year as she equalled her career-best mile with a 1:49.3 triumph in the lone $150,000 Gold third-leg contest for three-year-old pacing fillies on Saturday, July 25 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

A Clean Deal, voted last year's Two-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year in Canada on the back of a Super Final-winning OSS campaign, scored her eighth Gold victory on Saturday.

Sent off as the 1-5 favourite in the field of six, the Cattlewash-Ideal Talker filly was settled in fourth in a :26.4 first quarter by Doug McNair, who had her out and moving before the half. The tandem were on top by the midway point in :54.4 and held the lead through the 1:23 three-quarters with Daya (Bob McClure) knocking on the door at that station. A Clean Deal faced a stiff challenge in the stretch from that rival but held her off by a length. Cackle Berry (Tyler Jones) finished third.

“She's just so tough,” McNair told Woodbine broadcaster Randy Waples in the winner’s circle. “As you can see in that race, and a lot of her other races, she kind of lets them get to her, and looks like she's going to get beaten, and then she opens up again down by the wire. She's so tough and so easy to drive.”

A Clean Deal had previously won two Gold events in her division this year – in 1:52.1 on May 23 (the same night Daya won a second division) and in a career-best 1:49.3 on June 26 – both at Mohawk. Trained by Kyle Fellows, the filly is owned by 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 is now 11-0-2 in 14 career starts with $734,726 in earnings and 5-0-1 in seven outings this season. A Clean Deal paid $2.60 to win. 

The Gold score was the highlight of a training triple for Fellows. He swept the early double of the 13-race card, taking the opener with Toss Of The Dice ($9.70) prior to A Clean Deal's win. The trainer then made his third trip to victory lane as Captain Fear Not ($8.10) won Race 12. Fellows, Canada's number three trainer in wins and earnings this season, is also third among conditioners in the OSS standings. He is 100-for-512 overall on the year.

Grand Circuit star Ervin Hanover returned to his home base after a pair of stakes starts stateside and reclaimed the Open Pace throne with a 1:48.1 victory. Louis-Philippe Roy floated the stallion out of post eight but was denied a pylon seat and drove on through the quarter in :26.2, prompting Crack Shot (Doug McNair) to swoop from the pocket to the lead. That move allowed Ervin Hanover to drop in third, where he remained past the half in :53.3 until swinging out on the homeward turn. He thundered up to the outside of Crack Shot going to three-quarters in 1:20.4 but hooked wheels with the leader as they came into the stretch. They untangled with neither greatly hindered, and Ervin Hanover dispatched Crack Shot in the last eighth of a mile for the victory in the $44,000 event by 1-1/4 lengths. Calicojack Hanover (Bob McClure) closed for second, with Jordy N (J.R. Plante) finishing well to his outside for third.

Ervin Hanover, last year's Older Pacing Horse of the Year in the U.S. and Canada, reached the 30-win plateau in his 80th start on Saturday and increased his bankroll to $1,889,974. The Dave Menary-trained son of Captaintreacherous-Eloquent Grace won the Dave Brower Memorial on July 4 at The Meadowlands, then was eighth in the William R. Haughton Memorial when first-up through stout fractions. He is four-for-five on the year, with wins in two Opens and the Mohawk Gold Cup, for owner Pollack Racing LLC of Venetia, Pa. The six-year-old paid $2.20 to win.

Lets N Joy N bounced back from consecutive defeats with a career-best 1:49.4 victory in the $44,000 Fillies and Mares Open Pace. J.R. Plante had the five-time Open winner last of six through the early clip of :27.2 and :55.4, then sent her onto the helmet of Doug McNair behind Verity Blue Chip going into the last turn. Up to fifth at three-quarters in 1:23.1, Lets N Joy N ignited with a :25.4 last panel and blew by pacesetter Simply The Best (Roy) in deep-stretch to score by 1-1/4 lengths. Absolution (Trevor Henry) came on for third.

Lets N Joy N seized the Mohawk top-level distaff pacing crown for the sixth time this season and improved to 12-for-18 overall in 2026. The four-year-old Bettors Delight-Rock N Joy mare was imported from Australia after her 2025 campaign by owner Ecurie CSL of Sorel-Tracy, Que. The Jacques Dupont trainee is now 16-for-25 lifetime and has banked $257,442. The win price was $5.80.

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

(Ontario Racing & Standardbred Canada)