by Ashley Mayotte, WEG communications

Campbellville, ON — Circles romped in the C$130,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final for freshman trotting fillies on Monday night (August 15) at Mohawk Racetrack.

The 2-year-old homebred notched her fourth victory in gate-to-wire fashion for trainer/owner John Smith of Woodlawn, Ont.

New Image Media photo

Circles was a 1:57 winner for driver Jacques Hebert.

With Hall of Famer Jacques Hebert in the sulky, Circles led the field to a :27.4 opening panel with Frisky Strike (Steve Byron) parked out in third and forced to make a bid for the lead. Sent off as the 4-5 favorite, Circles refused to let anyone pass her as she remained the tempo-setter through fractions of :56.2 and 1:25.4.

She opened up a 4-1/4 length lead to stop the timer in 1:57, equaling her lifetime mark, which was taken in her elimination last Monday. Cool Creek Breeze (Chris Christoforou), another elimination winner, got up for second and Tyrany Seelster (Mario Baillargeon) finished third.

“At first I wanted to let her (Frisky Strike) go and then move right back to the front, but I couldn’t,” said Hebert, following the win. “My filly was too fired up and grabbing too much, so I had to let her go a little bit more.

“If she can just be a little bit quieter during a race and not pull as much, it will help her in the end, but if she has no traffic she is fine,” he added.

Hebert believes with the right trip Circles will also be able to win from off a helmet.

The bay miss paid $3.60 to win. In six lifetime starts (all in OSS Gold Series action), the daughter of Majestic Son-Merles Image has earned a record of 4-2-0 and boasts C$190,000 in earnings.

While Circles has won all of her previous Gold eliminations, this was her first Gold Final trophy.