by Greg Blanchard, WEG Media

Campbellville, ON — Raising Rachel kept her undefeated streak intact while Celebrity Juliet and Windsong Soprano were also victorious in Monday night’s (September 8) trio of C$30,000 eliminations for the Peaceful Way Stakes for 2-year-old filly trotters at Mohawk Racetrack.

All three winners were quite impressive under less than ideal conditions with heavy rains leaving the track rated as sloppy throughout the card.

New Image Media photo

Raising Rachel (#7) held off Seaside in their Peaceful Way elimination.

Raising Rachel remained perfect in her young career with a hard-fought off-the-pace win in the final split for Jack Moiseyev in 1:59. The daughter of Yankee Glide-Raising The Bar got up late to defeat Seaside with I Wanted Wings grabbing the show spot.

It was the seventh consecutive victory for the John Kopas trainee and boosted her career bankroll to $130,790 for owners Mel Hartman, K R Stable, Doug Millard and George Hempt.

In the opening split, Celebrity Juliet used front-end tactics for the first half, yielded the lead going into the last turn, and then rallied in the stretch to win going away for Trevor Ritchie in 1:59.3. The daughter of Cantab Hall-Naked Lyric turned back Broadway Paige and Mystic River.

It was the third win in seven starts this year for the Staffan Lind trainee and increased her earnings to $42,876 for the Celebrity Farms.

The second elimination produced the quickest clocking as Windsong Soprano won a stretch-long sprint to prevail in 1:57.4 for driver Steve Condren. The daughter of Windsong’s Legacy-Muscling In needed the entire length of the stretch to haul down a determined Dover Miss with Elusive Desire rounding out the top three.

It was a maiden-breaking victory for Windsong Soprano, who is trained by Bob McIntosh for Lothlorien of Cheltenham, Ontario. The win boosted her seasonal bankroll to $49,720.

The top three finishers automatically advanced to the C$575,000 final which goes next Sunday night (September 14) at Mohawk. The field will also include one fourth-place finisher who was drawn by lot and that was Stonebridge Diva.

Here is a look at the entire field for the Peaceful Way Stakes in post position order: 1. Elusive Desire, 2. Raising Rachel, 3. Celebrity Juliet, 4. Windsong Soprano, 5. Dover Miss, 6. I Wanted Wings, 7. Mystic River, 8. Stonebridge Diva, 9. Broadway Paige and 10. Seaside.