Could we see three-year-old pacing filly Warrawee Ubeaut take on older pacing phenom Shartin N? Driver Yannick Gingras would certainly like to see it happen, and there's an opportunity for that match-up to take place later this year.
The hottest sophomore pacing filly right now is definitely Warrawee Ubeaut, who captured her sixth straight win on Saturday (Oct. 5) in the $216,000 Glen Garnsey Memorial at The Red Mile.
Sent off as the 1/9 favourite, Warrawee Ubeaut allowed Beautyonthebeach (Doug McNair) make front early while Treacherous Reign forged forward from the nine hole to clear after the :26.2 opening quarter. Gingras edged to the outer flow from fifth before the half, reached in :53.2, before advancing to be on even terms with Treacherous Reign through a 1:21.3 third station. Straightening out turning for home, Warrawee Ubeaut easily dispatched of the pacesetter and opened up on the field. The backfield could not made a dent in the lead of the Warrawee Ubeaut, who cruised home wrapped up with a 27-second final panel to win in 1:48.3. Queen Of The Pride (Brian Sears) skimmed the cones to rally for second with Stonebridge Soul (Tim Tetrick) flying late on the outside to complete the triactor.
When asked how much faster she could have paced if needed, Gingras didn't want to hazard a guess.
"Honestly, I'm not sure how much faster she could have gone if I just turned her loose. But there's stil la lot of big races left and we're not racing the clock, we're going to race the other horses."
Warrawee Ubeaut (Sweet Lou - Great Memories) is trained by Ron Burke for Burke Racing Stable LLC of Fredericktown, Penn., Phil Collura of Mountain Top, Penn., J&T Silva Purnel & Libby of Delray Beach, Fl. and Weaver Bruscemi LLC of Canonsburg, Penn. Harness racing's fastest freshman pacer will set her sights next on the 2019 Breeders Crown at Woodbine Mohawk Park but her driver would like to see a different challenge.
"She's scary good right now. I think with this win, actually, it gets her into the TVG Final and I'd love to get her against the aged mares right now. I'm not saying she's going to beat Shartin but I'd love to get Timmy (driver Tim Tetrick) to untuck his whip anyway."
Warrawee Ubeaut sports a record of 10-2-3 from 15 seasonal starts with $666,310 in sophomore earnings and more than $1.3 million earned in her career.