Favorite caught at the wire in Mohawk Preferred

Western Wish and driver Louis-Philippe Roy scored an upset win over 4/5 race favorite Swift Ally after a torrid stretch drive in the $32,000 Fillies and Mares Preferred Pace at Mohawk Park Friday.

The 10th race feature, competed over a track labeled good, saw Sunday Afternoon and driver Doug McNair first on the lead from post six to the opening quarter mile in :27.2. Then the lead changed as Majestic Virgin (Jonathan Drury) moved to the front and then it was Snow Shark first-over for driver Travis Cullen and they cleared to the front at the half mile in :55.3.

Then the paced picked up as Show Shark looked to hold the field at bay as Swift Ally (Trevor Henry) started up first-over from fourth place while Western Wish and LPR grabbed the second-over cover passing the three-quarters in 1:24.3.

As they started down the stretch, Swift Ally kept gaining and was passing by Show Shark in mid-stretch and then in the center of the track was Western Wish and LPR and the 8-1 mild long shot was able to collar Swift Ally right before the wire to win by a head in 1:53.4. Show Shark was third.

WESTERN WISH REPLAY

It was the second straight win for Western Wish, a four-year-old mare by Betterthancheddar. She is trained by Carmen Auiello for owners Aaron Waxman, Santo & Nunzio Vena of Ontarion. She paid $19.70 to win.

For full race results, click here.

by Steve Wolf, for Harnesslink