Ontario-sired three-year-old fillies, including a pair of season-debuting O'Brien Award divisional champions, were the headliners on Friday, May 3 at Woodbine Mohawk Park competing in a quartet of $25,000 SBOA Stakes eliminations.
The SBOA Stakes filly eliminations -- two for pacing fillies and two for trotting fillies -- were contested on a wet evening at the Campbellville, Ont. oval with track conditions listed as 'good' with a one second variant to start for the trotters and later upgraded to 'fast' when the pacers went behind the gate.
Reigning divisional champion Pass Line ($2.90) kicked off her three-year-old season with a strong 1:51.1 victory in the first filly pace elimination.
Lots of early speed and action up front allowed James MacDonald to move Pass Line out from fifth at the half, riding up into a second-over spot and powering home to win by three-quarters of a length.
Lightning Lizzie (Sylvain Filion) moved to the lead in the second quarter, faced pressured to three-quarters and battled gamely to finish second. Betterwithglasses (Jonathan Drury) was third while Ann (Bob McClure) was fourth. Bettor Sisters (Doug McNair) was fifth to join the fillies advancing to next week’s final.
A daughter of All Bets Off, Pass Line turned heads throughout her rookie campaign, winning 10 of 13 and earning more than $680,000. Trained in Canada by Dave Menary for conditioner Ron Burke, Pass Line won multiple Grand Circuit events last season and finished second in the Breeders Crown.
Pass Line is owned by breeders Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi along with partners Frank Baldachino and Rich Lombardo Racing.
Sorcha Seelster ($26.80) turned in a gritty 1:51.1 upset victory for a new lifetime mark, edging strong closers Its A Love Thing and Coco Jo Jo to win the second filly pace elimination.
Driver Bob McClure angled out Sorcha Seelster from fifth at the half and the pair advanced up just one spot while uncovered on the turn. In the stretch, Sorcha Seelster motored down the centre of the track to win by a half-length.
Race favourite Its A Love Thing (James MacDonald) was a third-over seventh turning for home and paced a strong final quarter with Coco Jo Jo (Tyler Borth) to just miss. Odds On Platinum (Sylvain Filion) and Blazing Belle (Doug McNair) completed the top five.
The lightly raced Sorcha Seelster entered Friday with one win from four career starts. The John Pentland-trained and co-owned daughter of All Bets Off made just two starts last season and has never missed the top three.
She is also owned by R C Molyneux Racing, Peter Charlton and Archie Leach. Bred by Seelster Farms, Sorcha Seelster is a half sister to two-time O'Brien Award-winning colt Stockade Seelster.
The SBOA Filly Pace final goes next Saturday, May 11 for a purse of $141,500.
The reigning champion of her division, Willys Home Run ($2.60) unleashed a wicked :26.3 final quarter, rallying impressively from sixth to take the first filly trot elimination. James MacDonald steered the Kyle Fellows trainee to the season debut victory, stopping the clock in 1:56.1 and winning by three lengths.
Radical Legacy (Doug McNair) edged Sue Anne (Louis-Philippe Roy) for second. Bille Jean Queen (Jody Jamieson), who led the field into the stretch, was fourth, while P L Rainbow Dash (Bob McClure) was fifth to land a spot in next week’s final.
A daughter of Archangel, Willys Home Run won six of 10 starts and earned more than $520,000 in a superb two-year-old season. She capped off the campaign by winning the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final.
Willys Home Run is owned by Dr. Sara Gatchell, Jake Higgs, breeder Reg Higgs and Yolanda Fellows.
The victory was the first of three on the 12-race card for the Kyle Fellows stable.
With the public’s top two choices making breaks, R Liza ($19.20) took the second filly trot elimination in a career best 1:55.4 mile. Jody Jamieson sat third with the Susie Kerwood trainee until near the three-quarter pole, moving out and powering home in :27.2 to win by 2-3/4 lengths.
Favourite Valuable Miss (Sylvain Filion) made a break just after the start while second choice Lexus Angel (James MacDonald) jumped it off coming out of the first turn. Love Those Legs (Louis-Philippe Roy), who did the road work, crossed the wire in second. No Need For Alarm (Doug McNair), Evolving (Tyler Borth) and Flirty Dancer (Scott Young) rounded out the top five finishers.
An Ontario Sires Stakes Gold winner at two, R Liza was making her season debut on Friday after a four-for-eight, $110,000 rookie campaign.
Bred by Kentuckiana Farms, the daughter of Muscle Mass is owned by M And L of Delaware LLC and Alabama Harness Associate.
The SBOA Filly Trot final will go for a purse of $137,500.
The SBOA Stakes eliminations continue on Saturday night with two splits in the colt pace division. The SBOA Colt Trot did not require eliminations. Saturday’s card also features the finals of the Canadian Graduate Series. Post time is 7:15 p.m.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(With files from Woodbine; Photos, clockwise from top left, of Willys Home Run, Pass Line, Sorcha Seelster and R Liza)