Moonlit Dance delivered as the 9-5 favourite in the $20,000 opening leg of the Princess Series for three-year-old pacing fillies on Friday night at Mohawk Racetrack.
While Ride Away Shark overtook 95-1 longshot Twin B Honour after the :27-second opening quarter, driver James MacDonald and Moonlit Dance advanced from fourth-place and cleared to command past the :55.1 half-mile mark. The Tony O'Sullivan trainee continued to lead the 11-horse field by three-quarters in 1:23.4 and widened her advantage by open lengths down the stretch. Moonlit Dance lowered her lifetime mark by more than four full seconds as she hit the wire in 1:52 flat, a new North American season's record for sophomore fillies. Horseplayer Interactive Series champion Maplelea, the 5-2 second choice, closed well from third over to finish second and Twin B Honour completed the top three finishers.
Owned and bred by the David Goodrow Stable of Cambridge, Ont., the Art Major-Gone Dancing filly earned her first win of the season after playing the bridesmaid in all three legs of the Blossom Series. She is now two-for-10 in her career with earnings totalling $44,354.
The conditions for the series are non-winners of $100,000 in 2014. The second leg will be held next Friday, May 1 and the $50,000 (added) final is scheduled for Saturday, May 9.
Later on the card, Waasmula earned her second consecutive win in the $30,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred Pace, also with MacDonald in the sulky to work out the winning two-hole trip.
After following 1-2 favourite American In Paris through panels of :27.3, :56.2 and 1:24, Waasmula sprinted by, with her final quarter timed in :26.3, to win by more than three lengths in 1:51. She lowered her own Canadian season's record from a week ago by two-fifths of a second. American In Paris stayed for second and Hope For Paddy finished third.
Bruce Goit trains the seven-year-old daughter of Million Dollar Cam-Waasmowin, who was sent postward as the 6-1 third choice, for owner/breeder Brent Vincent of Allenford, Ont. The win was Waasmula's 20th lifetime and pushed her bankroll to $633,160.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.