The betting public was bang on when it came to identifying the horse to beat in Monday’s first-leg divisions of the Celias Counsel Series at Woodbine Racetrack, with race favourites Standing My Ground and Miss Panthers winning their respective $15,000 assignments.
Standing My Ground, who was a 1:58.1 winner in last week’s first start of the season, made a round trip to victory lane thanks to a career-best score of 1:56.1 in the first division. Chris Christoforou was third and parked past the quarter pole in :27.2 with the daughter of Amigo Hall-Rosa Parks, but she eventually worked her way to the top and supplied middle splits of :57.3 and 1:26.3 before using a :29.3 closing quarter to seal the deal by 5-3/4 lengths. Rockin With Dewey rallied late to finish second, with third prize going to Georgia Baby.
It was the third lifetime win for Standing My Ground, who is owned by Chris Beaver, Synerco Ventures Inc and David Lang. The filly, who upped her lifetime earnings to $42,300 with the win, was making her debut for new trainer Nick Gallucci.
Miss Panthers was a front-stepping winner in the second division for driver Luc Ouellette, who guided the filly to a long overdue victory in a career-best clocking of 1:58.3. The daughter of Classic Photo-Naughty Hall got away fourth but moved to the front in the backstretch and successfully led the field through middle fractions of :58.1 and 1:28.3 before using a :30-second closing quarter to secure the win by 1-1/2 lengths. Samartina was second best, with Lipstick Rose taking home the show dough.
Fredrik Persson of Guelph, ON owns and trains the two-time winner who now boasts a bankroll totaling $42,210.
The Celias Counsel Series is for three-year-old fillies who are non-winners of $30,000 lifetime in 2012. The second leg of the series is scheduled for Thursday, April 25, with the $25,000 final slated for Monday, May 6.
To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results – Woodbine Racetrack.