from the Ontario Sires Stakes

Campbellville, ON — Local filly Kadabra Queen went to the top of the 2-year-old trotting filly class with her second straight Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series win at Mohawk Racetrack on Tuesday evening (July 25).

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Scott Coulter drove 2-year-old trotting filly Kadabra Queen to her second straight Gold Series win at Mohawk.

Starting from post two in the second $78,400 Gold division, driver Scott Coulter settled Kadabra Queen in behind fan favorite Sorceress Seelster and watched as that filly trotted to fractions of :28.3, 1:00.2 and 1:30. Once the fillies had squared up in the stretch Coulter tipped Kadabra Queen to the outside and the pair powered home to a 1-1/4 length victory in a personal best 1:58.2. Sorceress Seelster settled for second and Zorgwijk Sophia closed well to be third.

“Very happy with her,” said trainer Chad Milner. “Scotty’s just done a great job with her, and the staff we have has done a great job with her, all the way back, so quite happy.”

Milner conditions Kadabra Queen for breeder Harness Horsepower Inc. and Frank Monte. Tuesday’s victory was the Kadabra-Queen Street daughter’s second in Gold Series action; she was also victorious in the July 6 season opener at Mohawk. With one second and one third in two other starts under her belt, the filly has already amassed $79,913 in her career, which will see her only stakes appearances come in the provincial program.

“She was so small and I said to the owner, look if we’re good enough to be in the Gold and we make C$100,000 this year, which we’ve done, we’re going to be happy right, and he said yup,” said Milner, explaining their decision to skip the open stake events at Mohawk. “We kept pretty much everything we own this year just Ontario Sires Stakes, because it’s such a good program.”

The diminutive filly — Milner said she may just hit 15 hands high with her shoes on — will have an opportunity to pick up her third Gold trophy when the fillies return to Mohawk Racetrack on Aug. 18.

“Even when they put the winner blanket on her tonight they said, Oh, she’s tiny,” said Milner with a laugh. “She doesn’t know it though.”

Like Kadabra Queen, the winner of the first Gold division is not long of leg, but Smoke And Mirrors proved to be long of nose as she squeaked out a 1:57 victory over Apprentice M. The fillies finished so close together that even trainer Richard “Nifty” Norman initially believed Smoke And Mirrors had lost.

“I was actually a little surprised, I actually thought she lost. So I was a little disappointed at first,” said Norman. “But then I switched back to the channel, I was on a different channel, and I switched back and they were putting her up as the winner, so I was very happy.”

Smoke And Mirrors had made the turn for home three lengths on top after ringing up fractions of :28.2, :58.1 and 1:27.4, but Apprentice M did her best to reel in the fan favorite in the stretch, getting close enough that a photo was required to determine the winner. The fillies finished 3-1/2 lengths ahead of third-place finisher Northern Lightning.

“I was pretty sure, we kind of touched wheels at the wire and I was pretty sure my filly just got there,” said driver Trevor Henry from the winner’s circle. “I didn’t really want to be on the front, but found myself there and she did it well.”

Norman conditions Smoke And Mirrors for owners Melvin Hartman, David McDuffee and Little E LLC and the New Jersey resident admitted he was a little surprised to see the filly on the front end.

“She’s kind of green anyway, and she never really was very good in front. Even at home training we never ever trained her in front, she was always a lot better off a helmet, so I was a little surprised when Trevor put her there, but I could see she was kind of up on the muscle there up behind the gate and no one else really wanted to leave,” said Norman. “But it all worked out. I was really happy with her first start and then, you know, she hasn’t raced since the first Gold and I thought maybe she’d be a little short, but no she raced good.”

Smoke And Mirrors, a daughter of Kadabra-Soutaine Hanover, finished fourth in the July 6 season opener and has paid back $44,868 of her $85,000 purchase price at last fall’s Harrisburg Yearling Sale. Unlike Kadabra Queen, she will have ample opportunity to pad her earnings against the continent’s best if she continues to progress through the summer.

“She was one of the nicer ones all winter, we’ve been very happy with her. She’s very good gaited. She’s not very big, but she’s got good speed and good heart,” said Norman. “She’s in the Peaceful Way and the Champlain, those type of things I think. So we’ll just see how they go, if she handles the Golds here then maybe she’ll get a chance to try the other ones.”

Ontario Sires Stakes action continues at Mohawk Racetrack on Tuesday (Aug. 1) with the second Gold Series leg for the 2-year-old trotting colts. Post time for Tuesday’s program is 7:30 p.m.