After having spent a few weeks on the sidelines, O’Brien Award winner Caprice Hill put in a tightener during Mohawk Racetrack’s compact four-dash qualifying session on Tuesday (October 4).
The Tony Alagna pupil was in rein to her regular pilot, Randy Waples, and the duo lined up in Post 3 for Race 3.
The track was ‘fast,’ the speed variant was nil, and it was all Caprice Hill, as the three-year-old daughter of Kadabra got right down to business from the word ‘go.’
The winner of 14 of 21 starts toyed with the field through the front half of the contest. Caprice Hill trotted down to the opening quarter in :28.2 and got a nice :30.2 breather in the second panel before she hit the half-mile pole in :58.4.
Caprice Hill picked up the tempo a bit in the third panel, as the millionaire bay opened up a few lengths (four and a half lengths, to be exact) on her foes before flashing up three quarters in 1:27.3.
It was in the final quarter where Caprice Hill really distanced herself from her rivals. Her lead stretched to more than eight lengths by the time she hit the head of the lane.
Caprice Hill’s lead expanded as the dash wore on, and when all was said and done, the multiple stakes winner came home with a :27.2 final quarter and was 14 and a half lengths the best when she nailed the wire in 1:55.
The Tuesday qualifying effort came on the heels of Caprice Hill’s most uncharacteristic performance to date. The $55,000 yearling purchase had never missed the board until September 17 at Mohawk Racetrack in the $436,000 Elegantimage Stakes, where she finished tenth and was beaten by six lengths in a 1:54.4 mile.
Caprice Hill is owned by Tom Hill of Hamilton, Ont.
To view the harness racing results for the Tuesday qualifying session at Mohawk, click the following link: Tuesday Results – Mohawk Racetrack (Qualifiers).