For driver Louis-Philippe Roy, victory in Saturday's Shes A Great Lady final at Mohawk Racetrack with 40-1 shot Youaremycandygirl was especially sweet.
The $500,000 purse was the biggest of any race won to date by the 27-year-old native of Mont-Joli, Que., whose first stakes score came just 13 months ago with Ys Lotus in the $60,000 Sobey's Gold Cup & Saucer at Charlottetown Driving Park.
The winner's share vaulted him back atop the tight three-way race for leading driver in Canada this year by earnings. He ended the weekend with $4.6 million, just ahead at Trevor Henry and Doug McNair at $4.4 million. Henry has since edged back to the top spot with $4,689,781 ahead of Roy's $4,657,392.
It also helped ease the sting of the narrow defeat three weeks ago of Rockin Ron in the $615,000 Canadian Pacing Derby at Mohawk, with Sintra getting up late to nip them by a neck in 1:48.1. Youaremycandygirl, like Rockin Ron, is trained by Ron Burke.
"When you lose a race like that by so little, you ask yourself what you could have done differently. There's less of that when you lose by two or three lengths," said Roy.
The margin was over a length Saturday when unheralded Youaremycandygirl got the job done, powering past favourite Kendall Seelster in the opening quarter and keeping her safe the rest of the way.
"I saw Randy (Waples) gaining ground at one point and thought I might be second again, but my filly fought on. Ìt was a great feeling, especially since it was so unexpected," said Roy, who had three consecutive double-digit wins on the card.
Roy, who is in his first full season at Mohawk after successful stints at Rideau Carleton and Hippodrome 3R, said one of his biggest adjustments has been learning to drive young horses, something he hadn't done much prior to this year. That, too, made Saturday's stakes win with a two-year-old pacing filly particularly satisfying.
"You can't drive a two-year-old like an older horse," he said. "They're more excitable, so you have to try to keep them as calm as possible. You've got to be careful approaching the gate, during the race and even in the warm-up. They can get hot, really want to go, and that can be hard to control."
(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean)