After a month-long break in their Ontario Sires Stakes campaign, Ontario’s top two-year-old pacing fillies returned to Gold Series action at Windsor Raceway on Sunday
evening.
In the single $40,000 Gold elimination, Your Beautiful (Stuart Sowerby) was quickest off the blocks from Post 2 and led the field of 10 to a :27.2 opening quarter. Cooking The Books (Jack Moiseyev) dropped into the pocket behind the early leader, with the rest of the field lined up single file on the rail in her wake.
Your Beautiful passed the :57 half with a comfortable lead over Cooking The Books, however, former Gold Final winner Apogee Hanover (Scott Zeron) and Classy Lane Rose (Mario Baillargeon) had stepped off the rail and begun advancing up the outside.
At the 1:25.3 three-quarters, Your Beautiful was still on top, but fan favourite Apogee Hanover was looking her in the eye and had wrestled command from the pacesetter by the time the fillies turned for home.
Apogee Hanover sprinted down the stretch to a two length victory in 1:54.1, pursued by a hard-closing Mindsweeper (Sylvain Filion) and Legal Entity (Luc Ouellette). Classy Lane Rose paced across the wire in fourth and pocket-sitter Cooking The Books earned the final share of the $40,000 purse from fifth. Your Beautiful faded back to sixth, just ahead of local favourite Class Of O Nine (Randy Waples), who is owned by trainer Bob McIntosh of Windsor, Ont. and Dwight Stacey of Mitchell, Ont. YS Gold Star (Robert Sparling Jr.) and Jet Speed (Phil Hudon) completed the Gold Final field, with only Breezin On Bye (Kevin Wallis) failing to advance.
The win was the second this season for Apogee Hanover, with her other victory coming in the July 18 Gold Final at Mohawk Racetrack. Through seven starts the Jeremes Jet miss boasts a record of two wins, one second and one third for earnings of $105,700. The filly arrived in Windsor off a disappointing outing in the $633,000 Shes A Great Lady Stakes where she suffered interference, made a break and finished ninth.
Last year’s top OSS reinsman Scott Zeron piloted the filly to the victory for trainer Ervin Miller and owner Roger Hammer of Bedford, Pennsylvania. Hammer acquired the half-sister to $869,912 winner Alastor Hanover at last fall’s Harrisburg Yearling Sale for a well spent $27,000.
Zeron and Apogee Hanover will line up at Post 2 for next Sunday’s $130,000 Gold Final, with reigning Gold Final champions Class Of O Nine and Randy Waples getting Post 5. The complete field for the Sept. 25 final at Windsor Raceway is as follows:
1. Mindsweeper
2. Apogee Hanover
3. Legal Entity
4. Classy Lane Rose
5. Class Of O Nine
6. Ys Gold Star
7. Your Beautiful
8. Cooking The Books
9. Jet Speed
AE1. Breezin On Bye
For results from Sunday's harness racing card, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Windsor Raceway.
(With files from OSS)