Hope For Paddy chased her cover home and prevailed in a photo finish for a 10-1 upset in the $30,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred Pace on Friday night at Mohawk Racetrack.
Milton Stakes champion and race favourite Voelz Hanover (Randy Waples) led the field of six through fractions of :27.1, :56.4 and 1:25 before being overtaken. Second choice American In Paris (Chris Christoforou) moved first up from third with three-eighths to go and edged clear of the popular pacesetter at the top of the stretch with Hope For Paddy (Doug McNair) rushing off cover down the lane. Hope For Paddy sprinted her final quarter in :26.1 to catch American In Paris at the wire in a final time of 1:51.4. Marlee B (Rick Zeron) also closed well from third over and finished one and three-quarter lengths behind the top two in third. Voelz Hanover settled for fourth while Bullet Point (Jody Jamieson) and Lights Go Out (Phil Hudon) completed the field.
Hope For Paddy was a 39-1 upset winner over American In Paris and Voelz Hanover in the Preferred back on Aug 15. She paid $22.10 to win this time out and now has a seasonal record reading 7-3-2 in 27 starts with over $100,000 in earnings.
Tony Montini trains the five-year-old Mach Three-Hope For Life mare for the Holland Racing Stable of Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont.
Lifetime, Hope For Paddy has won 24 of her 88 races and has earned $384,687 in purses.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.