by Sandra Snyder

Campbellville, ON — Eleven sophomore pacing fillies lined up behind Mohawk Racetrack’s starting gate for a single Ontario Sire Stakes Gold elimination on Monday evening (August 20) and all 11 shifted into another gear when they hit the three-quarter-mile marker.

From post six, Mia Seelster was the quickest away from the starting gate, leading the field to a :12.4 opening eighth and a :26.2 quarter. With only one filly being eliminated from the contest, the drivers were content to march single file along behind Mia Seelster until they were approaching the :54.3 halfway marker.

Scott Zeron was the first to tip into the outer lane, easing Katy’s Jet out of the third spot to take on pacesetter Mia Seelster and pocket sitter Mach A Wish. She was quickly joined by five other hopefuls, while those choosing to remain on the rail hustled up closer to the action.

As the field thundered by the three-quarters in 1:22.2, Jody Jamieson rolled out three-wide with Mindsweeper and the whole field found another gear. Although Mia Seelster was still on top at the 1:36.2 seven-eighths she was clearly fading and Mindsweeper sprinted by in the center of the racetrack to a 1:50.4 victory.

Mach A Wish and Rick Zeron squeaked out from behind Mia Seelster in deep stretch to get up for second, a half-length behind Mindsweeper, while Apogee Hanover and Doug McNair came rocketing up the stretch — after sitting dead last for most of the mile — to claim third place honors. Jet Wash followed Mindsweeper’s lead to be fourth, while Mia Seelster settled for fifth.

The only filly eliminated from next week’s C$130,000 Gold final field was Brightside Maude, who finished 12-1/2 lengths behind the winner in 11th.

Mindsweeper started from the trailing post 11 in Monday’s elimination and will be back on the rail for next week’s final, drawing post one. The Mach Three-Catch A Wish filly is trained by Eric Adams for owner-breeder Millar Farms and now has one win, one second, one fifth and one seventh-place to her credit from four Gold Series starts this season.

Monday’s 1:50.4 clocking was a personal best for the filly, whose previous best came in an elimination for the Canadian Breeders Championship at Mohawk on July 14. Mindsweeper finished in a dead heat for third in the Canadian Breeders final one week later, just a half-length behind winner Class Of O Nine.

In 11 sophomore starts Mindsweeper has tallied three wins, one second and two thirds for earnings of $95,043. As a 2-year-old Mindsweeper was also a regular on the Gold Series circuit, finishing second in the season ending Super Final and banking $173,381.

Mindsweeper will lead the field of 3-year-old pacing fillies back to Mohawk Racetrack next Monday (August 27) for the third Gold final of their season. The complete line up for the C$130,000 final is as follows: 1. Mindsweeper, 2. Mach A Wish, 3. Katy’s Jet, 4. Lyons Luck, 5. Trama Unit, 6. Apogee Hanover, 7. Class Of O Nine, 8. Cooking The Books, 9. Mia Seelster, 10. Jet Wash.