Late-charging Voelz Delight takes Preferred

Voelz Delight (Bettors Delight) passed six harness racing horses in the last eighth of a mile to capture the Saturday (Dec. 17) Fillies and Mares Preferred 2 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

After sitting sixth through contested fractions of :27.3 and :57.3, James MacDonald motioned the mare fourth-over as the field moved past three-quarters in 1:23.3. Voelz delight entered the stretch last but wound up as they sprinted for home. She motored home faster than her closing comrades, beating Jks Rolling Baby (Sylvan Filion) on the line by a head in 1:51.4. Dabarndawgswatchin (Louis-Philippe Roy) was right there in third.

VOELZ DELIGHT REPLAY

It was Voelz Delight’s fourth win of the year. She finished seventh in her Breeders Crown elimination, but the former Ontario Sires Stakes Gold winner has had a productive season of more than $118,675 in earnings. She has earned $642,862 and won 11 races across 43 lifetime tries for owner/breeder Richard Berthiaume of Pointe-Aux-Trembles. Benoit Baillargeon trains the four-year-old mare.

Also on the card, U.S. shipper Unsung Hero (Always B Miki) doubled his tally in the Valedictory series by winning the second leg. The Chantal Mitchell-trained gelding bested his three-year-old pacing male foes by two-and-three-quarter lengths in 1:51.1 with Roy at the lines.

UNSUNG HERO REPLAY

He entered the series after spending most of his debut season this year travelling around the northeastern U.S. with mixed success. He has won seven of 20 starts and raked in $76,940 for Howard Taylor of Philadelphia and Curtis Daniels of Willingboro.

The $30,000A final of the Valedictory series is set for Monday, Dec. 26 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The track will race next on Monday, Dec. 19.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink