A Clean Deal made it two-for-two in 2026 Ontario Sires Stakes action with a career-best 1:49.3 victory on Friday (June 26) at Woodbine Mowak Park in the lone $140,000 Gold Series Leg 2 event for sophomore pacing fillies.
Doug McNair drove the slight 6-5 favourite to victory for trainer Kyle Fellows and owners Yolanda Fellows of Rockwood, ON, Blair Corbeil of Leduc, AB, Windermere Stable LLC of New York, NY and James Ross of Wingham, ON. A Clean Deal won one of two Gold Leg 1 divisions on May 23 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
In Friday’s start, Jen Tilly (Trevor Henry) pressed hard off the gate from post nine and led the field to the sharp :25.4 opening quarter with A Clean Deal on her heels in the pocket. McNair had A Clean Deal out and moving up the backstretch and on top before the :54.3 half. Daya (Jody Jamieson) took her shot before the three-quarters but never quite reached the leader. A Clean Deal hit the three-quarters in 1:22.3 and then pulled away in mid-stretch and cruised to the wire. She defeated Daya by 1 ¼ lengths. Pownal Bay Bobbi (James MacDonald) was third. Shes A Bulldog (Bob McClure) and Lavender Seelster (Louis-Philippe Roy) grabbed the final two cheques, respectively.
A Clean Deal – Canada’s 2025 Two-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year – paid $4.40.
“She kind of paced away a little bit down by the wire,” McNair told WEG broadcaster Greg Blanchard. “I said to the Fellows [family], ‘One [ear] plug came out, the other one didn’t,’ but she paced through the lane real strong.”
The victory was the first start since the daughter of Cattlewash out of Ideal Talker finished eighth in the $420,000 Grade 1 Fan Hanover on June 13 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
“She had the 10 hole in the final, and I didn’t drive her very well in the elim,” McNair said. “I kind of stretched the favorite out, the filly [Loua Dipa] that ended up being the winner of the final. I stretched her a little too far, and she ended up going a big three quarters and just sucked the wind out of us. It was a bad drive on my part, but sometimes she makes up for it. Tonight, she was just bionic. We rolled out of there in :25 and she kept going.
“What makes her so good is you can start and stop her. A lot of fillies, you start them up like that, you won’t get them stopped.”
The victory improved A Clean Deal to 4-0-1 in six 2026 starts and 10-0-2 in 13 career starts. She upped her seasonal bankroll to $205,262 and her career total to $659,726 with the win.
A Clean Deal was bred by Winbak Farm and was sold for $20,000 U.S. at the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.