Stepping up in class off a pair of victories, the Dave Menary-trained pacing mare Blue Pacific made her Preferred debut a winning one as she cruised to victory over the top distaffers just after stablemate G A Speed Expert extended his own winning streak in winter series action on Friday night, Jan. 24 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
In Friday's featured $36,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred Pace, catch-driver Doug McNair put Blue Pacific on the point from the pylon post and set fractions of :27.3, :56.4 and 1:25.3 with the field following in post position order. The 3-5 favourite remained comfortably in control through the lane to score in 1:53.1 by 2-1/4 lengths over a pair of rivals she also defeated last week. So Much More (Tyler Borth) overtook Glenboro (Travis Cullen) for the runner-up honours in deep stretch while another Menary trainee, Dabarndawgswatchin (Trevor Henry), followed in fourth.
Purchased for $90,278 from the Standardbred Mixed Horse Sale last November by Seelster Farms of Lucan, Ont., Blue Pacific has won four of her six starts since while trained by Menary. A multiple stakes winner as a freshman, the four-year-old Sweet Lou-Miss Jones mare now has eight victories from 26 career starts and $378,837 in earnings. She paid $3.20 to win.
Also trained by Menary, G A Speed Expert ($2.30) was a repeat winner in the Snowshoe Series, which continued on Friday night with a pair of $18,000 divisions for round two.
Doug McNair had the 1-9 favoured inside starter G A Speed Expert tracking in fourth through panels of :28.1, :58.1 and 1:27.4 before staging a late three-wide rally around a stalled first-over foe to score in 1:55.1 with a :26.3 final frame. Betterdealmein (Travis Cullen) closed well for second and Gansbaai (Mike Whelan) finished third.
G A Speed Expert, who took a new mark of 1:51.4 in the opening leg of the series last Friday, now boasts a streak of eight straight successful starts stretching back to last October. The four-year-old son of Sportswriter out of Surprise De Mars is two-for-two this year since joining the Menary stable for owner Jennifer Bongiorno of Alpine, New Jersey.
A closing runner-up to G A Speed Expert in the opening leg of the Snowshoe, 1-2 favourite A Class Yankee ($3) was the fastest winner of round two as he won the other division in 1:54.3 by half a length for driver Mike Whelan and trainer Walter Whelan.
Last month's Valedictory Series champion, A Class Yankee closed from the backfield with :27 final quarter speed to defeat opening leg dead-heat winners T H Boomtown (Tyler Moore) and Miki Ray (J Harris) -- the latter led from the :56.4 half-mile mark before the former took a brief lead in deep stretch then was collared by the winner.
A Class Yankee, a four-year-old Always B Miki-Classy Chris gelding, is owned by Christopher Nicol of Dundas, Ont.
The Snowshoe Series is for three and four-year-old male pacers that were non-winners of two races or $30,000 lifetime as of Oct. 31, 2024. The series concludes with the $30,000 (added) final next Friday, Jan. 31.
Gravitational ($7.40) will aim for a sweep of a Pop-Up Series after posting back-to-back wins in the preliminary legs -- his latest being a 1:56.2 score -- for driver Billy Davis Jr. and trainer Tim Myers. Round two had $12,000 divisions with the other split going to Boots ($3.90) in 1:56 flat with Trevor Henry aboard for trainer Brett Lester. This series is for four-year-olds and younger that were non-winners of $20,000 or not averaging $1,500 per start in a minimum of 10 starts in 2024.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Standardbred Canada)