Kawartha Downs rolled out the red carpet for Ontario’s finest three-year-old pacing fillies on Thursday evening as they did battle in a set of Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series eliminations, and fans were treated to a track record mile by Lyons Luck.
With Paul MacKenzie at the helm, Lyons Luck was treated to a two-hole trip behind Mindsweeper through fractions of :27.2, :56.4 and 1:24.3. MacKenzie angled the Camluck-Pacific Rockette miss to the outside in the lane and her :27.2 closing speed was good enough to earn her the half-length decision over Mindsweeper in 1:52.1. Third prize was earned by Mia Seelster.
The 1:52.1 triumph shaved one-fifth of a second off the former track standard held by To Helen Back.
Ciaran Morrison trains the sophomore for owner Joseph Lyons Mound of Burford, ON, and together they’ve watched the filly put together a 3-1-2 record from seven trips to the track this season. The five-time winner pushed her lifetime earnings to $116,936 with the victory.
Earlier on the card, Katys Jet turned in a front-stepping triumph in her $40,000 OSS Gold Series elimination for driver Jonathan Drury. The Casie Coleman pupil stole away with easy fractions of :28.2, :58.4 and 1:27 before turning on the afterburners and firing home in a :28-second clip to win by three-quarters of a length over Apogee Hanover in 1:55. Race favourite Cooking The Books had to settle for the show dough.
Katys Jet, a daughter of Jeremes Jet-Major Delight, is owned by Steve Calhoun of Chatham, ON. The win improved this year’s record to 2-2-0 from nine tries and it went down as her fifth lifetime win. She’s earned just shy of $100,000 this and more than $163,000 to date.
The top four finishers from each of the elims will return to Kawartha Downs next Thursday for the rich final, and here’s how they’ll line up behind the starting gate:
$130,000 OSS Gold Series Final
1. Mindsweeper
2. Hope For Paddy
3. Lyons Luck
4. Class Of O Nine
5. Eyemajet
6. Mia Seelster
7. Katys Jet
8. Apogee Hanover
9. Cooking The Books
To view results for Thursday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Thursday Results – Kawartha Downs.