from the Ontario Sires Stakes

Campbellville, ON — Ontario’s elite freshman trotting fillies continued to impress fans as they battled in their third Gold Series event at Mohawk Racetrack on Tuesday evening (Aug. 4).

More than half of the fillies entered in the trio of $53,200 Gold divisions were sired by Kadabra and when the evening was over, all three trophies had been awarded to daughters of North America’s leading trotting sire.

Starting the sweep was Ready Any Time, who sprinted out of the backfield to catch heavy favorite Caprice Hill in the stretch, halting the Mohawk timer at 1:56.4. Bested by a half-length, Caprice Hill settled for second and Krafty finished third, 3-3/4 lengths behind the leaders. All three fillies are by Kadabra. (Click here to view a video of the race).

“It didn’t really surprise me, I know this filly is a good filly,” said driver Rick Zeron of the upset. “She was scratched her last start because she was sick, and the start before that she was second. Sylvain Filion, Luc Blais’ trotting filly (Emoticon Hanover) nailed her at the wire up at Georgian Downs in 1:56.3.”

Zeron drives Ready Any Time for New Jersey-based trainer Richard “Nifty” Norman, who felt the filly was back to herself after the bout of sickness, but expected her to be a bit shy of peak fitness after three weeks away from the racetrack.

“I took her off the gate and let her settle,” said Zeron, who lined up behind the number five on the Mohawk starting gate. “And when I moved her coming down the stretch, boy…well I didn’t have to pull the plugs until halfway down the stretch. Halfway down the stretch I knew I had (Tim) Tetrick dialed in and then this trotting filly just trotted right on by.

“Nifty’s done a great job with her,” added Zeron. “He’s always been high on this filly and she showed it tonight.”

The win was Ready Any Time’s first in three starts and bumped her earnings to $38,313. A $62,000 purchase from the Harrisburg yearling sale, the filly is owned by Melvin Hartman, breeder Herb Liverman, David McDuffee and Little E LLC.

“The connections of all these horses, I can’t say enough about them,” said Zeron. “They enjoy the sport and they like to see the sport, the racing, going forward and they do the best they can to keep it going forward by using their own broodmares and breeding horses to keep this industry alive. They do a great job those guys.”

The second Gold division saw Sylvain Filion and Emoticon Hanover pick up their second win of the season after missing three weeks due to sickness. The duo cruised home 4-1/4 length winners in 1:58.2, besting Devils Advocate (Manofmanymissions) and High Heels (Kadabra).

Filion pilots Emoticon Hanover for trainer Luc Blais and owner Determination, who offered up $165,000 for the daughter of Kadabra and Emmylou Who at last fall’s Harrisburg sale. The talented youngster was also a winner in the Gold Series season opener at Georgian Downs on July 12, where she caught Ready Any Time in the stretch and hit the wire in 1:56.3.

The final division also saw a repeat performance from a July 12 winner. Could It Be Magic and trainer-driver Wayne Henry fired directly to the front from post four and never faced a challenge, rolling under the wire 3-1/4 lengths ahead of Levitator (Kadabra) and Northern Sweetie (Deweycheatumnhowe).

Henry shares ownership of the Kadabra-In The Mean Time daughter with Fred Brayford. The partners acquired Could It Be Magic for a relatively modest $18,000 from the Harrisburg sale. Through four starts the filly has tallied three wins and one fifth for earnings of $55,633.

With her win, Could It Be Magic jumped into second spot in the division standings with 105 points, 20 behind leader Caprice Hill. Devils Advocate and Emoticon Hanover share third spot with 100 points and Ready Any Time rounds out the top five with 75 points. The 2-year-old trotting fillies make their fourth Gold Series start at Georgian Downs on Aug. 15.

Ontario Sires Stakes action continues at Mohawk Racetrack on Friday (Aug. 7) with three Gold Series divisions for the 2-year-old trotting colts. The colts will battle in races one, two and six on the 7:25 p.m. program with race one featuring the debut of Bee A Magician’s half-brother, Bee In Charge, from post two.