REXDALE, ON — Precious Delight carried a flawless 11 race win streak into her first Gold Series Elimination on Monday night and left Woodbine Racetrack fans laying odds on the chances of her keeping it alive through 2002.
The impressive daughter of Precious Bunny and driver Steve Condren took control of the Gold Elimination field just past the half way point in the mile and then proceeded to make mince meat of a talented group of Ontario-sired three-year-old pacing fillies. In her first race of the season, coming off just two qualifiers, Precious Delight sailed under the wire four lengths the best in 1:51.2, just two-fifths of a second off the all-time record for an Ontario-sired pacer.
Early leaders Go Alberta Go and Keith Oliver finished second, Miss Frizzle rounded out the top three and Armbro Wallflower and Noble Natasha also advanced to the June 24 $130,000 Gold Final.
Peter Heffering of Port Perry owns Precious Delight, who swept two Gold Series’ and the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final as a two-year-old on the way to her undefeated season. Monday’s win boosted the filly’s record to 12 wins in 12 starts and pushed her lifetime earnings to $624,932.
The powerhouse pacer is trained by Guelph’s Duane Marfisi, who opted to skip the Gold Series season opener at Windsor Raceway in May. Precious Delight qualified for the first time on May 31 over a sloppy Mohawk Racetrack and was back one week later (June 7) to reel off a final tightener in 1:53.3.
With the Windsor Gold Final champ Lady Graceful scratched before post time the second division was a wide open affair that saw Imoutahere eke out a neck victory over a charging Oven Mitt. Imoutahere led the field of six through all stations en route to the comparatively sedate 1:54.4 victory.
A daughter of Run The Table, Imoutahere is trained by Bill Robinson for Gerrie Tucker of Montreal, QC and Sampson Street Stables of Old Forge, PA. Regular driver Randy Waples was in the race bike for the win, the filly’s fourth in five 2002 starts.
The race for third was also a tight one with Angel In Disguise holding off Born Lucky by one-quarter length. Bailey Bug finished fifth to earn the tenth spot in the $130,000 Final.
The top five finishers from each Elimination will return to Woodbine Racetrack on June 24 for the $130,000 Gold Final and fans who witnessed her romp to the winner’s circle Monday night are betting that Precious Delight will be primed to rewrite the history books and establish herself as the fastest OSS winner of all time.