The final Trillium Series event of the season for three-year-old pacing fillies was split into a pair of divisions on Monday evening at Woodbine Racetrack, with the
hardware going to Northern Duchess and Apricot Brandy.
Northern Duchess brushed to the lead past the mid-way point and drew off to win by three lengths in a career-best clocking of 1:53.2 for the duo of driver Mike Saftic and trainer John Pentland. The grey daughter of Western Terror-Lady Mist defeated race favourite Keepers Destiny and Pretty Thing in the $34,421 affair.
Karen Carroll of Shedden, Ontario holds the papers on the four-time winner, who won for the second time in 12 trips to the track this season. The filly banked more than $221,000 as a rookie, and she has added another $83,761 to the coffers this year.
Apricot Brandy equaled her lifetime mark when she sped to a 1:52.2 victory in her $35,021 assignment. The daughter of Real Desire-Armbro Apricot overcame a first-over trip and used a :27.2 final frame to post the win by more than a pair of lengths. Amora Hanover took home the runner-up award and Warrawee Koine was third.
Sent off as the 1-5 favourite in the eight-filly affair, Apricot Brandy pushed her win streak to three-in-a-row for trainer Blair Burgess. He conditions the promising-looking sophomore, who was unraced as a rookie, for his wife, Karin Olsson-Burgess of Milton, and his father, Robert Burgess of Campbellville, Ontario. The victory gives the filly a 7-6-5 record in 24 starts this season, and the winner’s share of the purse lifted her cash stash to $148,065.
To view Monday’s harness racing results, click here.