It only took two races for the first stakes and record of the day as Youaremycandygirl held off all challengers in the $96,600 Shady Daisy for three-year-old pacing fillies.
Driver Yannick Gingras aimed the sport's fastest freshman filly to the front as the wings of the gate folded and made the lead in a :26.2 opening panel. The field remained in single file alignment through a :54 half before a swift brush first up from Alexas Power (Tim Tetrick). That move forced favoured Kissin In The Sand (Scott Zeron) out of the pocket before the 1:21.2 third panel and set up for a stretch duel between harness racing's dominant sophomore fillies.
With her foes approaching, Youaremycandygirl ($5.40) held strong through the stretch and dug deep to find the line first. The time of the mile was 1:48.2, establishing a new stakes record and track record. The old mark of 1:48.4 was shared by Agent Q, Blazin Britches and Dancinwiththestarz.
"My filly, everything that could have gone wrong early in the year went wrong health-wise, it seems like she's healthy now. Last week at the Meadows she was really, really good and she was great today," said a birthday-celebrating Yannick Gingras in the winner's circle.
Ron Burke trains Youaremycandygirl (American Ideal - Sweet Lady Jane) for Bill Donovan of Delray Beach, Fl. The 2017 Dan Patch award winner now sports a summary of 13-2-0 from 19 lifetime starts with more than $1.16 million in earnings.
Be sure to check out the rest of the coverage from Hambletonian Day in the 2018 Hambletonian Day News Centre.