by Ashley Mayotte, WEG communications
Campbellville, ON — Tea Party Princess got up in time to capture the lone C$204,626 Simcoe Stakes division for sophomore pacing fillies on Monday night (September 5) at Mohawk Racetrack.
Sent off at 9-2, the David Menary trainee notched her sixth victory in 13 starts this season while taking a new lifetime mark of 1:50.3.
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Tea Party Princess was a three-quarter length winner over Monkey On My Wheel.
Swinging Beauty (Doug McNair) hit the quarter pole in :26, before Jody Jamieson pulled Monkey On My Wheel from the pocket to make a bid for the lead, but was parked. The 1-2 favorite, Idyllic (Randy Waples), was then taken three-wide and poked a neck in front as they went past the half in :53.2. Monkey On My Wheel finally cleared and was quickly overtaken by Idyllic.
In the final turn, Monkey On My Wheel was removed from the pocket as Idyllic cut the three-quarters in 1:21.3. The pair battled in deep stretch, but it was Tea Party Princess (Jim Morrill, Jr.) who exploded from third to take command just steps from the wire, scoring the three-quarter length victory over Monkey On My Wheel with Idyllic fading to third.
“She has been real difficult since day one,” said Menary, following the victory. “She got off to a good start, but didn’t have her head screwed on right. I was pretty proud of her at the time and she has just really matured. She just kept getting better.
“We had to always post parade her last. She’d win, but she would win 20-wide. We got to know her a little bit better and she’s really grown up.”
The 3-year-old daughter of Art Major-Hannah Banana has nine wins, six seconds and two third-place finishes in 21 lifetime starts. The lion’s share of Monday’s purse boosted her overall bankroll to $281,396 for Brad Gray. Tea Party Princess paid $11.30 to win.