Friday night's stakes eliminations at Mohawk Racetrack kicked off with a battle between a pair of award-winning trotting fillies as Bee A Magician faced off against To Dream On for the first time this year.
Last year's divisional O'Brien and Dan Patch Award winners hooked up in the first Elegantimage Stakes elimination for sophomore fillies with Bee A Magician winning the duel in a 1:53.3 career-best clocking.
To Dream On (Yannick Gingras) was first to fire from post four with Princess Lilly (Mario Baillargeon) parked out through a :26.4 opening panel before finding a spot at the pylons in second.
As the fillies headed down the backstretch to the half-mile mark in :56.1, driver Rick Zeron sent the popular Bee A Magician first over from fifth and moved up to challenge To Dream On during the third panel.
The award-winning fillies battled on top past the 1:25.2 third quarter mark and into the stretch, before Bee A Magician took over. She prevailed by half a length over the fast-closing Princess Lilly while To Dream On settled for third. Mistery Woman (David Miller) followed in fourth and a from-last Seeuinthespring (Anthony MacDonald) also made the stakes final in fifth.
The top five fillies in the eliminations will return for the final next Saturday on North America Cup Night with the winners' connections earning the right to pick their post positions.
Undefeated in four sophomore stakes starts, Bee A Magician paid $2.60 to win as the 1-5 favourite.
The Kadabra-Beehive filly, who has already collected SBOA and Casual Breeze Stakes trophies this season, is trained by Richard 'Nifty' Norman for Ottawa owner Melvin Hartman and Florida partners Herb Liverman and David McDuffee.
Angies Lucky Star won the fastest elimination in the following dash with a 1:53.1 front-end performance.
Driver Sylvain Filion hustled Angies Lucky Star off the gate from post five and cleared to command over insider Drink The Wine (Jack Moiseyev) just before quarter :27.2 quarter pole.
The Angus Hall-Angie Blue Chip filly proceeded to the half in :57 while favourite Shared Past (Yannick Gingras) launched a first over attack from fifth. Shared Part confronted the leading lady while Drink The Wine broke stride from the pocket as they approached the third-quarter mark in 1:24.3.
But Angies Lucky Star rebuffed her main rival into the stretch and opened up four lengths to win in a new lifetime mark. Shared Past finished second while Handover Belle (Mike Lachance) came on for third. Charmed Life (Paul MacDonell) and Rockin With Dewey (Mario Baillargeon) rounded out the top five finishers after double placings.
Angies Lucky Star paid $12 to win as the 5-1 third choice.
She is owned by the Trevor Henry Stables Inc. of Arthur, Ont. and the Estate of Daniel J. McCann of Parkhill, Ont. while Richard Moreau has taken over the training duties with Henry, Canada's World Driving Championship representative, and his wife Shannon are en route to France.
An Elegantimage Stakes competitor last season, Personal Style provided trainer Richard 'Nifty' Norman and co-owner Melvin Hartman with another victory later on the card in the Armbro Flight Stakes eliminations for older trotting mares.
Dorsay (Corey Callahan) and One More Ginny (Mario Baillargeon) left together from posts six and seven, but insider China Pearls (Randy Waples) protected the pylon position through a :26.3 opening panel. The early leavers settled in second and fourth with Mystical Starlight (Jody Jamieson) getting away in the top three.
China Pearls continued to lead the field through the half in :55.3 and three-quarters in 1:24.1. Meanwhile, Personal Style and driver David Miller flushed out One More Ginny from fifth, but gapped her cover allowing Mystical Starlight to slip out second over.
But Personal Style kicked into high-gear in the stretch and reeled in China Pearls for the 1:53.1 career-best equalling performance. Cedar Dove (Ron Pierce) and Unefoisdansmavie (Yannick Gingras) closed well for second and third a half length behind while China Pearls finished one length back in fourth. Mystical Starlight was fifth.
Sent postward at odds of 9-5, the favourite paid $5.60.
Hartman co-owns the four-year-old Yankee Glide-Foxy Victory mare with Brittany Farms of Versailles, Kentucky.
After starting her season with a Canadian record performance in the Miss Versatility Series on May 20, Maven delivered on her 1-5 pari-mutuel promise in the second and fastest Armbro Flight elimination, scoring in 1:52.4.
Intense America (Sylvain Filion) worked her way to the lead over Daylon Miracle (Dave Wall) during a :27.2 opening panel and then proceeded to the half in :56.2 while Beatgoeson Hanover (David Miller) advanced first over from fifth with Maven and Yannick Gingras following suit.
As the mares rounded the final turn and reached the third quarter station in 1:24.4, Gingras sent Maven three-wide and the Glidemaster-M Stewart mare swept up to score by one and a half lengths. Intense America stayed for second with Bax On Life (Chris Christoforou), Smarty Pants (Scott Zeron) and Daylon Miracle rounding out the top five finishers.
Maven paid $2.40 to win.
The Jonas Czernyson trainee, who is closing in on the million-dollar earnings mark, is owned by William Donovan of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Here is the field for the Elegantimage Stakes Final in post position order:
1. Mistery Woman
2. Bee A Magician
3. Angies Lucky Star
4. Seeuinthespring
5. To Dream On
6. Handover Belle
7. Princess Lilly
8. Rockin With Dewey
9. Shared Past
10. Charmed Life
The field for the Armbro Flight Final will line up as follows:
1. Intense America
2. Personal Style
3. Maven
4. Smarty Pants
5. Cedar Dove
6. China Pearls
7. Daylon Miracle
8. Unefoisdansmavie
9. Mystical Starlight
10. Bax Of Life
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.