American Passion earned her first win of the year in the $10,000 Fillies & Mares Open Pace at Northlands Park following a pair of runner-up efforts as she wore down defending champion Sing Like An Angel on Friday night for trainer/driver Gerry Hudon.
The popular Travis Cullen trainee, Sing Like An Angel (Bill Tainsh Jr.), led the field of five distaffers through opening panels of :28 and :57.3 before being challenged by the pocket-pulling Blue Star Beauty (Jamie Gray), who edged ahead at three-quarters in 1:27.1. As Sing Like An Angel fought to regain the lead around the final, American Passion fanned wide off cover and got up to prevail by a quarter-length in 1:57 flat over the "good" track. Sing Like An Angel settled for second while the Cullen-driven Mach Away finished two and a half lengths behind in third.
American Passion is owned by her trainer along with R. Lynn Kowalevsky and Monica Hudon. The five-year-old daughter of American Ideal now sports a summary line reading 12-7-13 in 50 career starts with over $80,000 in purse earnings.
She paid $9.50 to win as the 7-2 second choice.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Northlands Park.