Three-year-old pacing filly Its A Love Thing earned her fifth straight victory in stakes action with a dominating performance in the fourth Gold Series leg of the Ontario Sires Stakes on Friday night, Aug. 23 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Its A Love Thing was followed by Pass Line, giving trainer Dave Menary a swept of the exactor in the $140,000 event.
Driver James MacDonald made the winning move with Its A Love Thing once Lightning Lizzie (Brett MacDonald) and Odds On Platinum (Sylvain Filion) traded turns on the lead through a :56 first half. On the move from fifth midway down the backstretch, Its A Love Thing went head-to-head with the front-striding Odds On Platinum as they raced by three-quarters in 1:22.4 and swept by off the final turn with stablemate, Pass Line, chasing her cover and taking over second-place through the stretch for Doug McNair. Its A Love Thing was victorious in 1:50 flat by 1-3/4 lengths over Pass Line, with One More Bet (Louis-Philippe Roy) getting up in the battle for third.
"She loves to race horses and she sees that horse on front and it's hard to throttle her back when you get her out there," said MacDonald in a post-race interview. "She just wants to go so fast and run them into the ground. She's been a lot of fun to drive and hopefully it's just the tip of the iceberg with her."
"She's just special," added Menary. "James always puts her in the right spot and even when she's not in the right spot, she seems to be able to overcome it. She gives me tingles."
The O'Brien Award runner-up to Pass Line as a freshman, Its A Love Thing has stepped out of her stablemate's shadow in her sophomore season, winning seven stakes with her only losses being second-place finishes in a pair of elimination events. Among her victories this year, the one-eyed filly has conquered Grand Circuit foes in the Fan Hanover and Jerry Silverman Memorial and is perfect in three Ontario Sires Stakes starts, including the Mid-Season Gold Final last month.
"Early on, there were two starts when she was second and third -- and should have won by six -- from running out. We corrected that steering last year and this year it's kind of been clear sailing," said Menary. "She matured and kind of grew into herself and she just loves to do it."
The Ontario-sired three-year-old pacing fillies will meet again for the final preliminary leg on Sept. 26 before the Super Final on Oct. 12. Its A Love Thing is also scheduled to compete in the Simcoe Stakes and Kentucky Sire Stakes final before her next Gold appearance.
Sent postward as the 3-5 favourite, Its A Love Thing paid $3.40 to win and $2.30 to place. There was no show wagering.
The millionaire daughter of Bettors Delight and Love For Sail is owned by Eric Good, Thomas Biederman, Joshua Green and Rich Lombardo Racing.
The win was one of four on Friday's Grand Circuit stakes undercard for MacDonald, who also completed a sweep of a Pop-Up Series for conditioned pacers with the Garry Merner-trained Tyga Hanover ($2.30) winning the $20,000 final in 1:51. Palladium Hanover took the $12,000 consolation in 1:52.1 for the mother and son, trainer and driver team Jodie and Travis Cullen.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Standardbred Canada)