After starting her sophomore campaign with four straight runner-up finishes, Lyons Bettorday had her best race day yet on Friday, winning the season's first Ontario Sires Stakes Gold division for three-year-old pacing fillies at Woodbine Mohawk Park in a new mark of 1:49.4.
Lyons Bettorday capitalized off the hot early fractions and a break by the favourite in the $103,100 Gold Series opener, storming home from seventh with a :26.3 final quarter in rein to Louis-Philippe Roy for trainer Anthony Beaton and owner Threelyonsracing.
The first group of fillies sped off the gate with Grandeur Seelster driving three-wide to take control at the quarter pole in :25.4, but she was quickly looped by Illusion Seelster then 3-5 favourite Ruthy B scooted away to the half in :54.1. Up by three lengths, Ruthy B continued to lead to three-quarters in 1:22, where she went off stride. Illusion Seelster was launching from the pocket and a first-up One Last Wish was rolling to her outside at that point and those two battled on top heading for home, but Roy had Lyons Bettorday poised to steal the spotlight with an impressive closing kick from third-over.
Lyons Bettorday, who faced SBOA Stakes competition last time out, paid $8.80 to win as the 3-1 second choice. Favorite Beach also closed well from the backfield to place with One Last Wish getting third.
The Bettors Delight-Albany Hanover filly was just a one-time winner as a freshman, but that 1:51.2 victory came in an OSS Gold division, and she ended the season with nearly $150,000 from 11 starts with five other top three finishes.
Her sub-1:50 score on Friday lowered the national season's record for three-year-old pacing fillies and was a new OSS filly record.
Last season's Super Final champion and recent winner of the SBOA Stakes, Cheesy Smile resumed her winning ways against Ontario-sired stakes fillies in the second $102,200 Gold division. Driven by Bob McClure, the Betterthancheddar-Frame Worthy filly relied on her usual late-closing tactics and prevailed in a photo finish in 1:52 flat for trainer and co-owner John Pentland.
Big Big Plans fired to the front pocketing Freshen Up through a :26.4 first quarter, with Bettor Call Mom keeping pace with the top pair before making her backstretch brush to take command on the way to the half in :56.1. Freshen Up then challenged first-over to three-quarters in 1:24.2, but Cheesy Smile, who caught the top three and followed the cover around the final turn, struck the front in the stretch and held off the late-closing longshots Bettors Punch and Lady Get Lucky by a nose.
Sent postward as the 6-5 favourite, Cheesy Smile returned $4.40 to her backers at the betting windows.
An O'Brien Award finalist at two, she is two-for-three this year and now has seven wins from 13 career starts with earnings surging to $434,477 for Pentland and partners R C Molyneux Racing, Peter Charlton and Archie Leach.
The three-year-old pacing fillies will return to Mohawk for the second Gold Series leg on July 18.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.