Driver Louis-Philippe Roy swept the Grade 3 Champlain Stakes for two-year-old trotting fillies featured on Friday, Sept. 12 at Woodbine Mohawk Park with Denarius, trained by Domenico Cecere, and Shimmering Hanover, from the Luc Blais stable.
Denarius downed her rivals with ease as the 4-5 favourite in a 1:55.2 career-best equalling effort in the first $82,863 Champlain division.
Roy swooped Denarius from post seven to the top heading for a :27.3 first quarter before relegating control to Social Wizard (Trevor Henry), pushing on the outside. Denarius then succumbed to a shuffle in the backstretch with Wishuponastar Deo (Tyler Borth) brushing towards the front and Bingo Night (Tyler Jones) taking control next.
Roy nonetheless angled Denarius outside for an uncovered bid after a :57.1 half and swiftly advanced to trot in stride with leader Bingo Night passing three-quarters in 1:27.1.
Denarius edged smoothly by Bingo Night spinning into the stretch and rolled to cross the line first by two lengths in a :28.1 final quarter. Bingo Night held second from Wishuponastar Deo.
A homebred daughter of International Moni and Treviso, Denarius started her career with a victory and runner-up effort in the Kindergarten Stakes at The Meadowlands last month and has now collected $67,235 for owner Moni Maker Stable of Enfield, Connecticut.
“Training down, she was always a nice filly,” said Cecere after the race. “But [when] we put her in to qualify, she showed me she could be a good one. In the first start, she raced great. In the second start, she raced good too – she was running in a little bit, but I think I straightened that up and she showed she can leave. I think we are right that she’s a nice filly.”
Denarius paid $3.70 to win.
Shimmering Hanover broke her maiden in the other $81,862 division, also scoring in 1:55.2 to complete Roy's sweep of the evening’s Champlain Stakes.
Roy crossed to the pylons with Shimmering Hanover and sat briefly in the pocket passing a :27.3 first quarter before pulling outside and moving to take the lead from Storybook Love (Chris Christoforou).
Barbara May (Doug McNair), the 3-5 chalk, followed Roy’s brush and pocketed Shimmering Hanover on the approach to a :57.2 half. Barbara May remained on the muscle circling the far turn and attempted to separate from the competition as she marched towards three-quarters in 1:27. She then kicked for home on a confident lead before wavering onto the ropes.
Shimmering Hanover steadily reached top gear into the final eighth and chased down Barbara May, while keeping a rally from Storybook Love at bay to the outside. Closing in 28 seconds, Shimmering Hanover won by a neck over Storybook Love while Barbara May settled for third.
“She’s always been pretty good; always there,” said Roy of the filly who was top three in her first five starts before her maiden-breaking Champlain victory. “Even going in the Peaceful Way final, I had big hopes for her because I felt we had always been a little lazy on her and she never ended at the wire tired. So we raced her a little bit tougher, but she got beat by two other pretty good fillies there [Sugar Packet and Bingo Night]. And then going into tonight was the same; I was just hoping she would hit the wire first.”
Blais, who recently went over $30 million in career earnings winning a Simcoe Stakes division, trains Shimmering Hanover for owner Determination of Montreal, Que. Bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, the filly by Captain Corey out of Star Hanover was a $138,889 yearling purchase from the Standardbred Horse Sale and has now earned $104,307.
Shimmering Hanover paid $10 to win.
Tyler Borth orchestrated a 52-1 upset with a furious stretch sprint by three-year-old trotting filly Stormont Beautiful in the $40,000 prep race for next weekend's Grade 1 Elegantimage Stakes which raced between the two Champlain divisions on Friday night.
Stormont Beautiful and her catch-driver raced second-to-last for most of the mile as 1-5 chalk R Dutchess (Jody Jamieson) led the field to a :27 first quarter and Lasting Dream (Louis-Philippe Roy) circled to the top to take the field to the half in :57.1. Stormont Beautiful coasted at the pylons in the backfield passing three-quarters in 1:25.4 and had ample room in the stretch to weave towards the centre of the track. She built speed in the final eighth of a mile as Lasting Dream clung to a diminishing lead and rolled over the top in the closing strides for a neck win. Trotting her last quarter in :26.2, Stormont Beautiful lowered her lifetime mark to 1:53 flat. Global Heritage (James MacDonald) settled for second after kicking from a second-over trip while Lasting Dream held third. R Dutchess, locked behind horses for most of the stretch drive, settled for fourth.
Kevin Benn trains Stormont Beautiful, a homebred filly by Resolve out of Stormont Fried, for owner Stormont Meadows of Long Sault, Ont. The filly won for the sixth time in 18 tries and has now accrued $131,833 in the bank.
Sent off as the third longest shot on the board, she returned a whopping $107.50 for a $2 win ticket.
A pair of $25,000 Ontario Sires Stakes were also held on Friday's card with Grassroots Series three-year-old male pacing division leader Out Of Ice ($2.60) completing a sweep of the six preliminary legs. A first-over move from fourth after a :55.2 half landed the Hes Watching-Warrawee Star gelding in the winner's circle again as he defeated pocket-chaser SOS Sports Bet (Doug McNair) and last-closer Bruno No No No (Garrett Rooney) in 1:50. Jody Jamieson drove the homebred for his father, Carl Jamieson. The Hall of Fame trainer also co-owns with George Harrison of Lancashire, England, the Estate of Brian Paquet of Quebec City, Que., and 1140545 Ontario Ltd. of Guelph, Ont.
Lyons Franky J ($11.40) earned his first Grassroots victory and lowered his lifetime mark to 1:51.2 in the other division for trainer Ken Oliver. Daryl Thiessen worked out the winning trip for the Threelyonsracing homebred by Lyonssomewhere out of Ozmopolitan. The colt moved third-over turning for home and glided down the centre of the track to go by late leader Shadow Of An Angel (Trevor Henry), drawing nearly three lengths clear, with favourite Grin And Win (Billy Davis Jr.) completing the top three finish order.
Campaigned by the father and son, training and driving duo of Gregg and Doug McNair, Osceola ($5.30) won this week's $40,000 Preferred Trot as he held off Drawn Impression (Louis-Philippe Roy) and slight favourite Gaines Hanover (Bob McClure) by a neck in a 1:52.2 mile. A back-to-back winner in Mohawk's top trotting classes, the five-year-old son of Muscle Mass-Armbro Exquisite is owned by his trainer along with partners Willow Oak Racing of Rogersville, Tennessee and Paul Hawman of Collingwood, Ont.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Woodbine & Standardbred Canada; photo of Shimmering Hanover winning on Sept. 12)