A Clean Deal did not pace the most pristine path, but overcame obstacles to win the $300,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Super Final for 2-year-old filly pacers on Friday night (Oct. 10) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
In a race that saw Th Check Me Out (post 3), Daya (post 5), and Jen Tilly (post 7) all leave, driver Doug McNair was content to protect pylon position with A Clean Deal (1-5 favourite) and let things settle before making his move to the lead.
Jen Tilly (driven by Louis-Philippe Roy, 29-1) got the first call leading the field of eight past the quarter in :27.
The action was then fast and furious, for no sooner had Jen Tilly settled in on the point, she was then challenged by Daya (Jody Jamieson, 2-1) who cleared to the lead approaching the three-eighths.
McNair followed Jamieson’s move, but was met with some hardball, resulting in A Clean Deal being stretched out before making the top just past the half in :55.2.
“I figured there’d be a couple pointing right out of there,” McNair said of the start of the race. “And I figured Jody would want to follow us as soon as the dust settled, but we went a long ways, you know, she went a big trip there… so for a 2-year-old pacing filly to do that, it’s fabulous.”
As A Clean Deal led the field into the far turn, Roy moved Jen Tilly out of the 3-hole and applied pressure to the leader. Although the two fillies were side-by-side for a couple of strides as they passed three-quarters in 1:23, A Clean Deal rebuffed that challenge, and then, when McNair kicked out the plugs, his filly took off.
A Clean Deal held off a fast-closing Shes a Bulldog (Bob McClure, 12-1) by three-quarters-of-a-length in 1:50.2. Daya was third with Jen Tilly fourth.
When asked by Woodbine Mohawk Park’s John Rallis if he was worried at any point as he turned for home, McNair said, “Yeah, you never know for sure, but I let Louis kind of get almost side by side with us. I figured he used his filly up a little bit early… first up again, so I wasn’t a whole lot worried about her, but I was worried about the one behind me and Burke’s filly [Shes A Bulldog]. They’ve been high on her since the wintertime, so she went a big trip tonight, too.
“It’s everything [to win a Gold Super Final]. We work all year for nights like this, tonight and tomorrow. To get a win, just get one or just to get into the race, is a big deal. And to get a win is just a bonus.”
The win improved the daughter of Cattlewash—Ideal Talker to 6-0-1 in seven career starts and upped her bankroll to $454,464 for owners Yolanda Fellows of Rockwood, ON, Blair Corbeil of Leduc, AB, Windermere Stable LLC of New York, NY, and James Ross of Wingham, ON.
Because of her four wins in five OSS Gold legs prior to tonight’s victory, A Clean Deal had trouble getting starts with overnight competition and had to qualify instead.
“Well, she made money and then she had too much money and too many wins, you can’t race against aged horses because they just beat you up, so, we’d rather win a qualifier, keep her sharp, keep her brave… and it worked,” said A Clean Deal’s trainer Rob Fellows. “There was two months where she had no racing and that’s hard to do for a filly, because they don’t like training as much as geldings and studs do.”
A Clean Deal, who paid $2.70 to her backers, was bred by Winbak Farm and was purchased for $20,000 U.S. at the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.