Monalishi brushed off a break in her previous start with a platinum performance in the $300,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Super Final for 3-year-old filly trotters on Saturday night (Oct. 11) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
The bay daughter of Green Manalishi S out of the RC Royalty mare Pretty Phylly G came into her championship appointment off an early miscue that resulted in a disappointing distanced finish as the 3-5 choice in her OSS Gold Leg engagement on Sept. 30.
On Saturday night, she was simply flawless.
Exquisite Taste blasted off the wings from post six and swept to the front as Foxy Amee and Bright Green settled into second and third, respectively, into the first turn. James MacDonald, at the controls of Monalishi, crossed over from post nine and eventually found a seat in fifth through an opening panel in :26.2.
It was Exquisite Taste still controlling the tempo after a half in :55.2, as MacDonald played a patient hand, content to keep his charge in fifth, while 1-2 tote board choice Stormont Beautiful, who had been eighth, stepped to the outer flow and looked to gain ground on the leaders heading into the turn for home.
Exquisite Taste, on top by 1 ¾ lengths though three quarters in 1:24, looked to fend off her pursuers as the pace picked up. Fifth in early stretch, Monalishi began to pick off her rivals, but a revved-up Stormont Beautiful was roused by Bob McClure and loomed a major threat for all the spoils.
With 50 yards to go, Monalishi finally wore down a game Exquisite Taste and then fended off a final surge from Stormont Beautiful to best that rival by three-quarters of a length. Exquisite Taste held for third, while Sprite Seelster took fourth.
The final time of 1:52.1 was just a fifth of a second off the OSS record and produced a new speed badge for the brown filly.
“Last week in post parade, I didn’t love how she felt,” said MacDonald. “She tried to back herself off the gate, which wasn’t like her and when I asked her then she made a miscue. Tonight, I was jogging her around and she felt like a million bucks. [Trainer] Blake [MacIntosh] and his team and [caretaker] Mike [Rivet] did an amazing job on her because she was a different horse tonight. She felt great and I was able to do whatever I wanted and, luckily, it worked out.
“Honestly, I loved where I was. I know they had raced hard up front, so I figured they would be getting a little tired and my horse usually kicks off cover like a freight train.”
Tim Klemencic, who co-owns the sophomore trotter with MacIntosh, was thrilled to see Monalishi stay flat after a flat performance last time out.
“We had big hopes for this year, but we’ve had horses for a long time and you take the good with the bad and when we’re racing good, everything is good,” said Klemencic. “It was a tough summer knowing that we had a good filly, but she was stuck in a stall for a while. Even a couple of times we thought we had her good, then she made uncharacteristic breaks, but right now we think she’s good. The time off hopefully helped her and we’ll see what will happen the next few weeks.”
A $28,000 purchase out of the 2023 Standardbred Horse Sales Company’s yearling sale in Harrisburg, PA, Monalishi went 6-2-0 from 10 starts in her rookie campaign with purse earnings of $562,811.
Her first two starts were in qualifying sessions at Woodbine Mohawk Park, the second a 2:00 mile punctuated by a 10-length, head-turning effort. Monalishi made a miscue in her first career start after hitting the gate and finished distanced but then reeled off three straight scores.
Her top triumph, by purse, was a half-length win in the $390,000 Peaceful Way last August at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
With Saturday’s win, Monalishi now sports a 10-4-0 mark from 18 starts, along with over $880,000 in career purse earnings.
Bred by Shmuel Farhi, of London, ON, Monalishi paid $14.10 for the victory.