Yoda Queen paced the mile of her life with her victory on Thursday, Aug. 22 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, sweeping a Pop-Up Series for pacing mares by winning the $20,000 final.
Sent off as the 1-9 favourite, Yoda Queen received the royal treatment from driver James MacDonald as the track's leading pilot aimed the pacing mare for the top and let her handle things from there. After fractions of :27.1, :56.2 and 1:25, Yoda Queen showed she had plenty left in the tank with a :27.1 closer for the lifetime best 1:52.1 tally. Cheesy Smile (Bob McClure) gave chase after a first-over bid from the half, but fell two lengths short of the leader. Carsons Gouda (Trevor Henry) rounded out the top trio.
Four-year-old Yoda Queen (All Bets Off - J M Chicago) is owned by Jamie Doig of Petrolia, Ont. and trained by Julie Walker. The win was the 15th lifetime in her 40th start, lifting her earnings to $117,548 in the process.
The pop-up series was for fillies and mares with a minimum of 10 starts in 2024 that were non-winners of $18,000 in 2024 or not averaging $1,500 per start on the season.
For the results from the Thursday card of harness racing at Woodbine Mohawk Park, click the following link: Thursday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Standardbred Canada)