from the Ontario Sire Stakes

Campbellville, ON — Solar Sister took command of the 3-year-old pacing filly division with a 1:50.3 victory in her Ontario Sire Stakes Gold Series division at Mohawk Racetrack on Thursday evening (July 2).

New Image Media photo

Solar Sister and driver Doug McNair edge Ms Mac N Cheese and driver Sylvain Filion, earning their second straight Gold Series trophy.

Starting from post two in the second $84,000 Gold split, fan favorite Solar Sister landed on the rail behind number two choice Ms Mac N Cheese and watched contentedly from the pocket as the pacesetter zipped to fractions of :26.1 and :54.4. Rolling toward the 1:23.2 three-quarters, driver Doug McNair tipped Solar Sister into the outer lane and the filly reeled in her Ontario Sires Stakes rival, earning a half-length victory in a personal best 1:50.3.

Ms Mac N Cheese and driver Sylvain Filion settled for a hard fought second, with Capela and driver James MacDonald well behind the dueling leaders in third.

“I figured Sylvain (Filion) would be pointing her (Ms Mac N Cheese) out of there and trying to either cut it out or sit on my back,” said McNair after the race. “We went out of there pretty fast; his filly was rolling right along to the half. I could have come back around, but I was pretty content to be where I was at. It looked to me like a two horse race when the draw came out, so I was happy to be following her. I knew she’d get me to where we had to go.”

McNair engineered Solar Sister’s second Gold Series victory for his father, trainer Gregg McNair, and owner-breeders David Willmot and Clay Harland Horner. The win bumped the daughter of Mach Three and $1.3 million winner Cabrini Hanover to lifetime earnings of $411,930 and gives her a sophomore record of five wins, one third and one fourth in seven starts.

“She’s just getting to be a really nice mare. You can race her any way, on the front or from the back or in the middle,” added the reinsman. “Them type of mares are horses that make it a lot easier for me, you can kind of judge the speed and make up your mind as you go, and she’s happy to race any way.

“She’s a big filly, good gaited, a nice bred filly, I’m glad we got her.”

With wins in the first two Gold Legs, Solar Sister sits alone atop the 3-year-old pacing filly division standings with 100 points. Ms Mac N Cheese, also a winner in the June 6 season opener at Mohawk Racetrack, falls to second spot which she shares with the winner of the first division, Wrangler Magic.

Fan Hanover champions Wrangler Magic and Sylvain Filion went off as the heavy favorites from post four in the first Gold Series contest and, as he would later do with Ms Mac N Cheese, Filion opted to take command of the race. Wrangler Magic rolled easily to a :27 quarter, fended off a challenge from Delightful Hill heading by the :55.1 half, and was comfortably in charge at the 1:23.1 three-quarters.

Turning for home, however, things got decidedly less comfortable for the pacesetter. Facing pressure from all sides, Wrangler Magic had to battle all the way to the wire, securing a 1:51 victory by a scant nose over Cast No Shadow. Delightful Hill sprinted into third, three-quarters of a length behind the leaders.

Owners Thomas Kyron, Dr. Maurice Stewart, Brian Paquet and Bayama Farms Inc. now have a Gold Series trophy to display alongside the Fan Hanover trophy Wrangler Magic earned at Mohawk on June 20. Through six sophomore starts the Mach Three daughter has tallied two wins, two seconds and two thirds and Thursday’s win boosted her lifetime earnings to $429,713.

Stephane Larocque conditions the talented young pacer, who was also a Gold Series winner at two.

Solar Sister, Wrangler Magic and their peers will now enjoy a brief break in their provincial stakes schedule before it resumes at Grand River Raceway on August 3.

Mohawk Racetrack fans have a much shorter interlude before the next Ontario Sires Stakes event at the Campbellville oval. On Monday (July 6) the 2-year-old stakes season gets underway with three Gold Series divisions for the freshman pacing fillies. The fillies will be featured in races three, six and nine on the 7:25 p.m. program.