Woodbine Mohawk Park hosted the first two-year-old Gold Series event of the 2021 season on Friday evening and the freshman pacing fillies turned in a pair of impressive performances.
Speak Your Mind was the first two-year-old to don an Ontario Sires Stakes blanket this season with a commanding front-end effort in the first $100,600 Gold division. The daughter of Artspeak-Lu Lu Q seized control just after the :28.4 opening quarter and proceeded to lead the field of seven through a :58.2 half and 1:27.1 three-quarters on her way to a 1:55.3 victory. Speaker Nancy, another daughter of first crop sire Artspeak, was three-quarters of a length back in second and Marykeeponburnin was one and one-half lengths behind in third. Fan favourite Stonebridge Thalia was fourth.
“She had a bit of an attitude when we started out but as time went on, boy she picked it right up and moved from, like I group them in ability when I am training them down and she was in about the third set initially and she moved up to the second set and then moved right up to the top set the last three weeks she trained and was not out of place at all,” said trainer Dr. Ian Moore. “She’s a nice made filly and looks good and she’s very racy, she warmed up right on the bit tonight.”
Cambridge resident Moore trains Speak Your Mind and his son Tyler Moore of Guelph, ON drives the filly for Frank Cannon of Sanford, FL. Cannon, who bred and co-owned Lu Lu Q through her racing career, offered up $6,000 for Speak Your Mind at last fall’s Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.
“Frank’s very happy. His phone has been blowing up he said, everybody wanting to know about a $6,000 filly,” said Moore. “We’re all pleased.”
Speak Your Mind’s stablemate I Love Ongait clocked the majority of the fractions in the second $100,600 Gold division before being collared in the stretch by Prohibition Legal. In rein to James MacDonald of Guelph, Prohibition Legal stalked the pacesetter from the outer lane before accelerating down the stretch to a one length win in 1:54. I Love Ongait settled for second and Better Double Flip closed well to be third.
“I’m just really, really proud of the filly. She was one of those horses that never did anything wrong all the way training down and it’s really nice to see her bring it to the racetrack and do it in her first race,” said trainer Nick Gallucci. “I wasn’t too keen when I saw the half in :57 and the 3-5 favourite on top and mine coming first-over from fifth, but good horses can overcome that kind of stuff and I’m just really proud that she was able to do that.”
Bred and owned by Millar Farms of Stouffville, ON, Prohibition Legal is a daughter of Big Jim-Catch A Wish. The eleventh foal from $260,829 winner Catch A Wish, Prohibition Legal is a full sister to $313,770 winner Fan Court and has five other half-siblings who earned more than $100,000 in their racing careers.
“She’s built more like her Mach Three brother Foot Soldier,” said Stouffville resident Gallucci, who trained both Fancourt and Foot Soldier for Millar Farms. “Obviously she’s got the stride and everything going for her that way, and obviously the desire. I wasn’t really expecting to see her get another gear first-over, but like I said, training down she never did anything wrong and she was always digging. We never asked her for everything she had until tonight.
“I think that if we can get her through her two and three-year-old years she could be the best horse I’ve ever trained. I’ve never had a horse that can come off a helmet like that. She can change her gear so fast and it’s kind of surreal that she can do it so early in her career.”
Prohibition Legal and Speak Your Mind will look to burnish their Gold Series resumes when the two-year-old pacing fillies meet up for Leg 2 on July 13 at Georgian Downs.
On Saturday, July 3 the two and three-year-old pacing colts will square off in their first Gold Series Leg at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
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To view results for Friday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Friday Results – Woodbine Mohawk Park.