Four-year-old pacing mare Awesome Hill stepped up against the Preferred distaffers and held off the queen of that class on Friday night (May 6) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Leaving from post six in the $35,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred Handicap with Trevor Henry aboard, Awesome Hill took control and had her outside rivals tuck in behind through a :26.3 opening quarter.
Getting away fifth from furthest out, 3-5 favourite So Much More -- who had won all of her prior starts in the Mares Preferred this year -- began to advance approaching the half-mile mark for James MacDonald as Awesome Hill continued to lead through middle splits of :56.2 and 1:24.1.
The pressure mounting as So Much More sprinted into second and continued to make late gains down the stretch, but Awesome Hill found the wire first, prevailing by a neck in 1:51.2. Dabarndawgswatchin and Jody Jamieson finished 2-1/4 lengths behind in third off a pocket trip.
Sent postward as the 5-1 third choice, Awesome Hill returned $13.70 to win.
A homebred daughter of Sunshine Beach out of Taxi Fare Hanover, Awesome Hill improved her seasonal summary to 4-5-1 from a dozen starts. The Chantal Mitchell trainee was a winner of the Niagara Pacing Series late last year and runner-up in the Blizzard and Ontario Girls finals this winter before climbing the conditioned ranks to take a new lifetime mark and boost her bankroll to $166,464.
In his return to the Richard Moreau barn, 11-year-old claiming pacer A Boy Named Suuzz (Sylvain Filion) reached a career milestone as the popular gelding earned his 50th victory, prevailing by a head in 1:53.1. The son of Mr Saratoga, who is currently owned by Normand Beausoleil of Montreal, Que., struck the front at three-quarters and held off the late-surging Real Wicked (Bob McClure) in the evening's sixth race claiming handicap.
The victory was one of three on the card for Moreau, who also sent out Got Sexy Scars (James MacDonald) and Mohawk newcomer Imshortandsweet N (Louis-Philippe Roy).
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.