Shacked Up delivered as the prohibitive favourite in Sunday night’s lone $239,167 division of the Simcoe Stakes for three-year-old filly pacers on Sunday
night at Mohawk Racetrack.
Luc Ouellette had the daughter of Western Terror-Sapphire Dawn leaving alertly from post four and the pair was able to land in second position behind Special Sweetheart through a brisk opening panel of :26.3. Special Sweetheart then faced pressure from longshot Warrawee Koine through a torrid half mile of :55.3 with Shacked Up sitting inside third and Shes A Fan moving up in the second-over position.
Shes A Fan came three-wide in the third quarter around the tiring Warrawee Koine and pressed the pacesetter through three-quarters in 1:24. At that point, Ouellette found clearance to bring Shacked Up to the outside on the back of Shes A Fan with Not Enough lurking third-over in fifth position.
In the stretch, Shacked Up kicked off cover and brushed to command. She faced a late challenge from Not Enough but held that one at bay in 1:51.3. Shes A Fan was just another quarter length back in finishing third.
"She's better when you come from way out of it, but the three horses I had inside of me weren't horses the horse that I felt could take me to the head of the lane," said driver Luc Ouellette. "I took a shot at placing her and hoped that Jody [Jamieson driving Shes A Fan] or David [Miller driving Special Sweetheart] would show up, and David did first.
“We always knew that she could leave real good, but when you do leave with her she doesn't have that :25.4 last quarter. When you don't use her and you can follow a horse until the head of the lane, that's when she's at her best. She had to work real hard, she's a small horse and I had to use her twice and the fractions were pretty good. That was one of her best races, even though she went in 1:49 in her last start that was one of her best races."
The victory was the sixth in 12 starts this season for Shacked Up who is trained by Tracy Brainard for the Bulletproof Enterprises of Boca Raton, Florida. Shacked Up returned just $2.90 to win while increasing her seasonal purse earnings to just over $520,000.
(WEG)
To view Sunday’s harness racing results, click here.