Bingo Night and Tyler Jones equalled the 1:53.4 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) record for two-year-old trotting fillies in the first of two $90,000 Gold events in the division on Monday night, Aug. 4 at Woodbine Mohawk Park while Cher Hill emerged victorious in the second division.
In the first Gold test, Bingo Night (pictured above) posted a 1-1/4-length victory over favourite Flowing Tribute in a career-best 1:53.4.
The mile equals the OSS record shared by the great Bee A Magician (2012) and Lil Sweet (2024).
Tyler Jones drove homebred filly Bingo Night to victory for his father, trainer/owner/breeder Dustin Jones, who shares Bingo Night’s ownership and breeding credit with Herbert Horses Inc. of Montreal, Que., and her ownership with Sjoblom Racing Inc. of Delray Beach, Florida.
“:53 is a big mile tonight,” Tyler Jones told Woodbine broadcaster John Rallis. “I didn’t know she could do that, but she did it and she did it well.”
The daughter of Green Manalishi S out of Cant Stop Tommi sat in the pocket behind Flowing Tribute (Bob McClure) most of the mile through fractions of :27.3, :57 and 1:26.2 before charging past in deep stretch to win.
“It was a duel down the stretch and both fillies gave their hearts out and I’m just the lucky victor,” said Jones.
Bingo Night paid $8.20 to win.
Jones said Bingo Night is his father’s "sweetheart" and, "He loved her from day one. She did everything she was supposed to do from the word 'go' and she’s still doing that.”
HP Crystaline (Louis-Philippe Roy) was third, followed by Barbara May (Doug McNair) and Very Sassy (Todd Ratchford).
The victory improved Bingo Night to 3-0-1 in four career starts and upped her bankroll to $108,152. Bingo Night won a Leg 1 Gold division on July 11 at Mohawk and was third to Flowing Tribute in their July 25 Gold test.
In the second Gold division, Doug McNair drove Cher Hill to a two-length victory over Lo An Behold (Louis-Philippe Roy) in a career-best 1:55.4. It was the first career win for the homebred daughter of Muscle Mass-Lauramarie Hill owned and bred by Tom Hill of England and trained by McNair’s father, Gregg.
Doug McNair had Cher Hill on the front before the :59 half and cruised from there. Timeless (Todd Ratchford) was second, followed by Figuratively (Tyler Jones) and the favourite, A Splash Of Green (James MacDonald), who made a break near the half and recovered to pick up the final cheque.
“I wanted to leave out of there, take a look at things and probably follow one or two of them, if I could,” said McNair. “I was just happy she drew away from a couple of the other bearcats [Bingo Night and Flowing Tribute].
“It’s just funny how you get a couple of nice fillies dad trains and then, this year, there are a couple of really special ones that were in the other division.
“[Cher Hill’s] attitude is her best attribute. She relaxes in the barn and is easy to drive and she usually trots perfectly. Last week, it really surprised me. I was leaving a little bit with her and she made a miscue on me. That’s a two-year-old trotting filly for you.”
Cher Hill paid $9 to win.
Cher Hill now has a record of 1-0-2 in four starts and earnings of $57,504.
In addition to the OSS Gold events, Mohawk hosted the $70,500 Millard Farms Series final for two-year-old trotters where Greenarrow Hanover took down the field of nine as the 3-5 favourite with Bob McClure in the sulky.
Leaving from post three, Greenarrow Hanover floated away in fourth while Tymal Starstruck (Doug McNair) raced to the outside of Captain Willie (Todd Ratchford) for the lead through an opening split of :28.4. Tymal Starstruck cleared to the top on the backstretch when Greenarrow Hanover quickly brushed from fourth to take charge before reaching the half in :58.4. Moving onto the far turn, Tymal Starstruck popped the pocket quickly, used once more to grab a short lead from Greenarrow Hanover at three-quarters in 1:27.4.
Greenarrow Hanover quickly countered and turned for home to reassert himself in front at the top of the lane. Trotting home in :28, Greenarrow Hanover turned away Tymal Starstruck to reach the wire 1-3/4 lengths in front of that rival in 1:55.4 with Southwind Chester (Louis-Philippe Roy) rallying to be third.
Trained by Shawn Steacy, Greenarrow Hanover has now won two in a row and has yet to be worse than second through three career outings, earning $49,250. The gelded son of Greenshoe-Gatka Hanover is owned by Mark Steacy of Lansdowne, Ont., David Reid of Sydenham, Ont., and Bertrand Gilhespy Stable of Lake Country, B.C.
While the youngsters were on full display on Monday, the veteran Logan Park rebounded from a rare defeat in his last in the Spirit of Massachusetts with a front-end score in the $36,000 Preferred Trot.
Sent away as the 3-5 favourite with regular pilot Doug McNair aboard, Logan Park quickly trotted around Fashion Frenzie (Louis-Philippe Roy) from post four to cruise to an early lead through a :27.1 first quarter. McNair tapped the brakes to the half in :56.2 before picking things up on the final turn when Amigo Volo (James MacDonald) moved first-over from third at three-quarters in 1:24.4.
McNair kicked out the ear plugs and began to call on Logan Park for more turning for home as Amigo Volo drove to the leader's wheel. The double millionaires slugged it out for the length of the lane with Logan Park fending off Amigo Volo by a neck on the wire to stop the timer in 1:51.3. Pocket-sitter Fashion Frenzie finished third, 2-1/2 lengths behind the winner.
Trained by Kyle Fellows, Logan Park has now won six of his eight starts in his seven-year-old campaign. The gelded son of Archangel-Rite Outa The Park has won 42 of 91 lifetime, good for career earnings of $2,146,998 for owners Outofthepark Stable of Rockwood, Ont., Reg Higgs of Blenheim, Ont., and Arpad Szabo of Bradford, Ont.
Three Pop-Up Series divisions were also held on Monday's card for horses that have started for a purse of $7,500 or less in one of their last three starts. Sometime Somewhere (Trevor Henry, $2.30) romped in 1:51 and Livinthebeachlife (Louis-Philippe Roy, $2.90) won in 1:50.2, while the third division was won by Wallace Hartley (Trevor Henry, $4.30) in 1:50.3.
To view Monday's harness racing results, click the following link: Monday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Ontario Racing & Standardbred Canada)