by Karen Briggs, WEG media

Toronto, ON — Randy Waples engineered a victory for Bob McIntosh trainee Lady J K in the first of two C$25,000 eliminations for the Ontario Sired Autumn Series for sophomore pacing fillies on Friday night (Nov. 27) at Woodbine.

New Image Media photo

Lady J K crossed the wire in 1:54.4 for Randy Waples.

Lady J K pocket-sat behind Mark MacDonald and Mistreos through early fractions of :28.4, :57.3, and 1:25.4, the pair leaving the rest of the six-filly field well behind. Waples angled Lady J K out to challenge in the stretch and she got to her rival in the final strides, stopping the timer in 1:54.4. Mistreos hung on for second by a head, and Wild West Angel (Jody Jamieson) was some seven lengths back in third. Asker To Dance and Erikastar Mindale will also advance to the final.

McIntosh co-owns Lady J K with C S X Stables and Al McIntosh Holdings. The Camluck daughter can now boast three wins in 14 tries as a sophomore.

Smashbox, the 7-5 favorite, made her Woodbine debut a winning one in the second elimination, sneaking up on the inside to poach the victory from Jody Jamieson and Mach Me Not.

The winning time of 1:55.2 shaved three-fifths of a second off the Mach Three filly’s previous best effort. Jim Ainsworth trains and Rick Zeron was in the bike.

Owned by Larry Ainsworth, William Boden, and the Martwest Racing Stable, Smashbox has scored seven victories since she started her career this August, and has never been worse than third in nine starts. She recently swept the Middlesex Series at London’s Western Fair Raceway, and clearly finds the bigger oval in Rexdale just as much to her liking.

Mach Me Not (second), Thrillionaire (third), Another Dawn (fourth) and Hudson Gal (fifth) will also advance to next Friday’s C$50,000 final.