Stakes season at Woodbine Mohawk Park began on Friday, May 8 with eliminations for Ontario-sired sophomore fillies in the SBOA Stakes.
A pair of eliminations were needed in the pacing filly and trotting filly categories, with each elimination going for $25,000.
O’Brien Award winner A Clean Deal took the fastest pacing elimination in 1:50.4 with five-time Friday night winning driver Doug McNair aboard to give the red-hot stable of Kyle Fellows his first of three winners on the action-packed 11-race card. A backstretch move to the lead was the move to the winner’s circle for the daughter of Cattlewash-Ideal Talker. A Clean Deal kicked home in :27.3 to win by a length and a quarter. P N G Shadow (Louis-Philippe Roy) finished second while Romantic Beauty (Trevor Henry), Malicia Speed (Travis Cullen) and Naughty Delight (Jody Jamieson) also advanced to the final.
A Clean Deal won six of seven starts at age two and by keeping up her winning ways with her season's debut score, she now has more than $466,000 earned. She’s owned by Yolanda Fellows of Rockwood, Ont., Blair Corbeil of Leduc, Alta., Windermere Stable of New York City, New York and James Ross of Wingham, Ont.
A Clean Deal paid $2.40 to win as the 1-5 favourite.
In the other elimination for pacing fillies, the Ron Burke-trained Shes A Bulldog moved to the lead in the second quarter and powered to a 1:51.3 score with driver Bob McClure. Daya (Jamieson) finished second, bested by a length and a quarter, while Pownal Bay Bobbi (Mark MacDonald), TH Check Me Out (Tyler Borth) and No Better Air (Henry) rounded out the top five.
Owned by Brad Grant of Milton, Ont., Shes A Bulldog was making her season's debut after winning once in nine starts at two. The daughter of Bulldog Hanover-Band Stand scored her lone freshman victory in the Grade 1 Three Diamonds to close her campaign. She now has earnings over $540,000.
Shes A Bulldog, the 1-2 bettor's choice, paid $3 to win.
Cher Hill was a gate-to-wire winner in the fastest trotting filly elimination giving Doug McNair another photo op. Trained by McNair's father Gregg, Cher Hill marched to a sharp 1:54.2 win, defeating nearest rival Arkona Seelster (Henry) by three lengths. My Ghost (Roy), Lo And Behold (James MacDonald) and Twin B Showbiz (Jonathan Drury) also punched their tickets to next Saturday’s final.
A multiple Ontario Sires Stakes Gold winner at two, Cher Hill’s sophomore debut win moves her record to four victories in 11 starts with more than $143,000 earned for owner Tom Hill of Hamilton, Ont.
Sent postward as the 5-2 second choice, the daughter of Muscle Mass out of Lauramarie Hill paid $7.60 to win.
In the other trotting filly elimination, last year's OSS Grassroots champion Blue Jean Gal rallied for a 1:55 victory in her first sophomore start for trainer Julie Walker. James MacDonald steered Blue Jean Gal to the win, as the Trixton-Pine Knolls filly trotted home in :28 to close from fifth at the head of the lane. Satu Wania (Henry) followed the winner to a second-place finish, beat a length and a quarter. Very Sassy (Todd Ratchford), Flowing Tribute (McClure) and Barbara May (McNair) completed the top five.
Blue Jean Gal’s successful season debut improves her record to eight wins in 10 starts with $111,000 earned for the Estate of Leonard Gamble of Etobicoke, Ont.
The even-money favourite paid $4.30 to win.
In addition to a pair of elimination wins, McNair also had success in Friday's Pop-Up Series action, guiding another winner for his father's stable as the Grant-owned veteran trotter Patriarch Hanover won a $20,000 series final for conditioned and optional claiming trotters in 1:55.1. This series was for horses that raced for a purse of $10,000 or less in 2026 with winners over $75,000 in 2025-26 not eligible. Optional $12,500 claimers were also eligible.
In another Pop-Up Series, for female pacers than started for a purse of $12,000 or less in 2026 with winners over $50,000 in 2026 not eligible, McNair drove repeat winner Twin B Empress to a 1:52 score for trainer Anthony Montini. The other $16,000 second-leg division of this series went to Blinded By Delight, who also doubled up, scoring in 1:51.1 with Borth driving for conditioner Blair Burgess.
McNair also picked up a win with the Herbert Holland-trained mare Betterdoubledown, last year's Niagara Series champion.
Outside of the stakes action, Fellows completed his second straight Friday night training triple with wins by lightly raced three-year-old pacing gelding One Lucky Beach, driven by McClure, and season-debuting sophomore pacing filly Easy Station, in rein to Roy.
The SBOA colt and gelding eliminations, featuring the season debut of undefeated reigning Horse of the Year Beau Jangles, will highlight this Saturday evening’s 12-race card. Post time is 6:30 p.m.
The SBOA Stakes filly finals will join the two finals for the boys on Mohawk's card next Saturday, May 16.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Woodbine & Standardbred Canada; photo of A Clean Deal winning on May 8)