About the only thing that can look three-year-pacing filly Boadicea in the eye these days is her feed tub.
In the first of two OSS Gold Series divisions held Saturday evening at Woodbine Mohawk Park the dynamic performer matched her own OSS record when she halted the teletimer in 1:49.
Jonathan Drury rolled Boadicea to the top from Post 6 and together they led the field through fractions of :27.1, :54.4 and 1:21.3 before kicking home in :27.2 to win by 4-1/4 lengths over Sunny Dee. Third prize went to Lovely Donna.
Sent off as the 1-9 favourite, the Bill Budd-trained daughter of Big Jim-Rose Seelster is now 7-for-8 this season and 10-for-13 in her career. Charles and Gordon Lawrence of Blenheim, Ont. bred and own the photogenic filly who increased her earnings to $203,133 with the win.
“You shouldn’t get worried, but you never know, eh,” said trainer Bill Budd, admitting to a few nerves before the heavy favourite clinched her seventh straight win. “She’s just a wonderful mare.
“I’ll just nurse her along. She takes care of herself pretty good anyway,” said Budd, who raced the filly twice between her June 22 Gold event and Saturday’s test. “She’s very easy on herself. You could put her on the cross-ties and she’d still be there with her head down when you come back up from whatever you were doing.”
Powerful Chris was a front-stepping winner in her $105,600 division for driver Bob McClure and trainer John Pentland.
The daughter of Betterthancheddar-Cell Power led the way through fractions of :26.4, :55.3 and 1:24 before using a :26.3 closing quarter to win by a half-length margin over So Much More in 1:50.3. Chocolatemilktoast rallied late to finish third.
“I never talk to Bob about how he’s going to drive. I never talk to a driver ever about how they’re going to drive, because I don’t want to ever put something in their head, but I guess I wasn’t surprised in there that he went to the front,” said trainer John Pentland. “I think in a short field like that he knew he was going to be able to get to the front easy enough and control it.
“It’s a great group that we have here, that own her and everybody involved, Scotty (Barr) and the guys that work for me, everybody has had a hand in this and we’re just having a lot of fun," added Pentland.
John Pentland, Jack Darling Stables Ltd and Syllabus Stable own the six-time winner who improved her 2019 record to 2-3-1 from seven starts with the win. The lion’s share of the purse bumped the filly’s overall bankroll to $324,615.
In the $34,000 Preferred for pacers it was Casimir Richie P turning a two-hole trip into a 1:49.4 score for the team of driver Sylvain Filion and trainer Dr. Ian Moore.
Nirvana Seelster rocketed to the lead from Post 6 and whacked out fractions of :27, :55 and 1:22.3 before being confronted in deep stretch by Casimir Richie P. The pocket sitter kicked home in :27 to win by a neck over an ultra-determined Nirvana Seelster in 1:49.4. Torrin Hanover was third.
Moore shares ownership on the four-year-old son of Astronomical-Casimir Hugs with Michael Goldberg of Toronto, Ont. The victory was his fifth of the season and the 15th of his career. He’s banked in excess of $220,000 to date.
(With quotes from OSS)
To view results for Saturday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Saturday Results – Woodbine Mohawk Park.