Milton, ON — Trotting fillies were in the spotlight at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Monday (Sept. 21) with the freshmen competing in a pair of Gold Series divisions.

You Will Be Queen captured the $80,864 first division with a personal best 1:55.2 effort. New Image Media photo.

You Will Be Queen captured the $80,864 first division with a personal best 1:55.2 effort. Starting from post five, with Chris Christoforou in the race bike, You Will Be Queen left smartly and led the field to a :28.2 opening quarter. Up And Ready swept to the front heading for the :57.2 half, but just before the 1:26.3 three-quarters Christoforou tipped You Will Be Queen to the outside and the fan favorite powered down the stretch to a 1-1/4 length victory. Up And Ready finished second and Pixie’s Lady was third.

“She’s been good all year. She got sick on us there after the first leg of the Pure Ivory (July 23), we had to give her some time off, but she’s come back good,” said trainer Dustin Jones. “She raced good in the Peaceful Way final (Sept. 12) and got beat by two really good fillies, and then she raced really good tonight. She raced actually tonight like she did in her win in the Pure Ivory where Chris left with her, let a guy go and then came back out, so real happy with her.”

Monday’s victory was the first Gold Series win of You Will Be Queen’s career, but not her first in Ontario Sires Stakes action. The Royalty For Life-Dewdle All Day filly won a division of the Grassroots season opener at Woodbine Mohawk Park on July 13. She finished second in her Gold Series debut on Aug. 19 at Grand River Raceway and then posted three straight third-place finishes behind Donna Soprano in the Champlain Stakes and the elimination and final of the Peaceful Way at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

“She’s a very nice filly,” said Jones, who bred and owns the filly in partnership with Hebert Horses Inc. “She’s a pleasure to come to the track with.”

In the $81,472 second division, Imextraspecial and driver Trevor Henry left well from post three and watched from third as Dashing Muscle reached the quarter in :28.2 and then yielded to fan favorite Dicentra. As Dicentra rolled toward a :58.1 half, Henry sent Imextraspecial after the lead and once the filly reached the front she opened up a four length lead on her peers, reaching the three-quarters in 1:26.2. Imextraspecial cruised home to a personal best 1:55 clocking, 3-3/4 lengths ahead of Dashing Muscle and Dicentra.

“She raced really well,” said trainer Paul Walker. “I think maybe a couple of those races at Elora kind of turned her around and she’s been getting better ever since.”

Like You Will Be Queen, Imextraspecial started her provincial career in the Grassroots, winning a division of the July 13 season opener at Woodbine Mohawk Park and the July 29 leg at Grand River Raceway in Elora. The Muscle Mass-I Am Special daughter went back to Elora for the Aug. 19 Gold event and added a third win to her resume.

Imextraspecial also tested her skills against the Grand Circuit fillies in the Champlain and Peaceful Way. She finished fifth placed fourth in the Champlain, second in her Peaceful Way elimination and fourth in the final.

“She raced a really good race in the Peaceful Way (final), we were really pleased. She put in a real gutsy effort there. She got a bad shuffle and then come again in the stretch, so it takes a pretty good 2-year-old to do that,” said Walker, who trains the filly for Keith Coulter. “Her mother was a very tough mare and I think she’s passed it on.”

The 2-year-old trotting fillies have one Gold event remaining on their schedule, Oct. 6 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, before the top 10 point earners compete in the Oct. 17 Super Final. Imextraspecial and You Will Be Queen currently sit third and sixth in the point standings, respectively.