Tea Party Princess outpaced six foes and Jim Morrill, Jr. outsmarted some speed-crazy sulky sitters en route to pulling off a 9-2 upset in Monday’s $204,626 Simcoe Stakes for three-year-old pacing fillies
at Mohawk Racetrack.
Swinging Beauty (Doug McNair) powered to the lead from Post 4 and had the field tracking her past the quarter pole in a :26-second clip. Monkey On My Wheel (Jody Jamieson) pulled the pocket entering the backstretch, and hot on her heels was Idyllic (Randy Waples). When it looked as though Monkey On My Wheel wasn’t going to clear, Idyllic pulled the trigger three wide and the fillies remained three wide when the half flashed up in a vicious :53.2.
Monkey On My Wheel eventually cleared to the lead, and in a matter of strides Idyllic forged past her to gain control of the pace going into the final turn. Idyllic led the group to the three-quarter pole in a demanding clocking of 1:21.3, and she did so with Monkey On My Wheel back out and rolling as the field turned for home. Tea Party Princess, who sat fifth during the early stages of the mile, was advancing steadily on the rim and she had the freshest legs in the stretch. Her :28.2 final quarter speed was good enough to earn her the decision by three-quarters of a length over Monkey On My Wheel in 1:50.3. Race favourite Idyllic had to settle for third prize.
Dave Menary trains the speedy daughter of Art Major-Hannah Banana for owner Brad Gray of Dundas, ON.
“She has been real difficult since day one,” said Menary, following the victory. “She got off to a good start, but didn’t have her head screwed on right. I was pretty proud of her at the time and she has just really matured. She just kept getting better. We had to always post parade her last. She’d win, but she would win 20-wide. We got to know her a little bit better and she’s really grown up.”
The victory was her sixth in her last seven outings, and it improved her 2011 record to 6-5-1 in 13 tries. Her share of the rich purse lifted her lifetime earnings to $278,703.
(With quotes from WEG)
To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results – Mohawk Racetrack.
Every once in a while
Every once in a while drivers go to this never never land.They have an agenda and nothing will stop them. A few yrs ago in the Milton stakes, two drivers John Stark jr on Bunny lake and Luc on Worldly Beauty hooked it up refusing to let each other go into the fastest half I have ever seen 52.3. It was a cold windy nite as well. As one might expect, they both finished up the track. I dont think worldly beauty was ever the same. Its in these kind of races we go back to the paddock and hope are horses are ok.