A front-end trip proved too much for favourite The Three Of Us tonight at Woodbine Racetrack, in the first of two $20,000 splits of the Ontario Girls Pacing Series second leg, as she let 9-2 choice D M Marion squeeze by in the stretch for the win
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The Three Of Us, with Roger Mayotte at the controls, won the scrimmage for the early lead and took the short field through fractions of :28.0 and :57.4. Awesum Best (Rick Zeron) tucked into the pocket spot while D M Marion (Jason Brewer) bided her time in fourth. At the 5/8 mile marker, Jody Jamieson moved Windsong Experanza up to challenge The Three Of Us on the outside, wearing the leader down and catching her in the final strides. Both mares, however, failed to register the impressive late rush of D M Marion, who came two-wide to seize the win by two lengths, in a new lifetime best of 1:54.4.
It was the fourth consecutive victory for D M Marion and set the daughter of Rambaran up for a series sweep. In a repeat of last week’s opener, Windsong Experanza was second, while The Three Of Us hung on for third.
D M Marion is a homebred four-year-old owned by the Glory B Stables and Connie Baker of London, Ontario, and trained by Ronnie MacLean.
In the second of the two Ontario Girls splits, Slomotion used tactics befitting her name to outlast her competition and produce a wire-to-wire win in a relatively pedestrian 1:57.2.
Sylvain Filion sent Slomotion to the front off the gate with April Three and Jason Brewer quickly duelling for the lead. By the :27.3 quarter pole, Slomotion had regained her front-end dominance, then backed up the pace by producing glacial middle fractions of :58.1 and 1:28.0, giving herself a valuable breather. She fended off a confrontation from Onehotvett (Jack Moiseyev) and held on for a three-quarter-length victory, with April Three grabbing the show spot.
Scott Barr trains the four-year-old daughter of Camotion, who is another homebred sent out by Mervin and Darlene Smith of Dorchester, Ontario. This was her first win in four tries in 2009.
The $53,000 final of the Ontario Girls series is slated for Friday, March 6 at Woodbine.
Four Starzz Meliss kept the excitement rolling on ladies’ night when she scored a grand slam in the $44,000 Fillies & Mares Open Pace.
With Rick Zeron at the lines, the eight-year-old daughter of Cambest moved to the lead from third after the :26.4 opening quarter put up by Marietta Hall (Joshua Marks). The heavy favourite, who is trained by Glenn Lalonde, reached the half in :55.3 before pulling away by over four lengths en route to three-quarters in 1:24.1. Michelles Power (Jody Jamieson) made a late rush from the backfield down the lane but Four Starzz Meliss had secured the victory with her lead winning in 1:53.3 by two lengths.
Michelles Power was second with Gina Raider (Mario Baillargeon) coming on for third.
Four Starzz Meliss earned her fourth straight win tonight pushing her seasonal earnings to $88,000 for co-owners Jennifer Lalonde of Guelph and John Nother of Brampton, Ont. The bay’s 37th career win bumped her bankroll to $689,446.
Click here to view Friday’s results.
(With files from WEG)