Grand River: Adare Castle unassailable again in OSS Gold Series

Adare Castle won for the third straight time in Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series action on Monday night at Grand River Raceway, taking a single C$156,300 tilt for 3-year-old filly trotters in 1:55 4/5.

Starting from post six in the field of seven, Adare Castle (James MacDonald) grabbed a seat in third but was out and on the move before the 27 3/5 opening quarter went on the board and trotted past Saundra (Sylvain Filion) to take over the lead past that marker.

From there, Adare Castle backed down the tempo to 57 1/5 at the half and 1:27 at three-quarters, successfully dealt with a mild first-over bid by Baby Longstocking (Doug McNair) as they raced in the backstretch for the final time, and kept Saundra at bay in the lane to win by three-quarters of a length. Mischevious Rose (Bob McClure) turned a second-over trip into a third-place finish.

► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter

"When you're a heavy favorite going for a lot of money you just want to keep them out of trouble," said MacDonald. "I had to make a tough move up the backstretch with her, but she has so much class and confidence that when she came and went to the lead she was lights out after that.

"She's just a champion. She never gives you a bad race and always gives you everything she's got. She always brings her "A" game and never disappoints. You're going to get a good effort from her every time she goes behind the gate."

A daughter of Muscle Mass bred by Ed Lohmeyer, Adare Castle is also owned by trainer Mark Etsell in partnership with Robert Newton, Graham Hopkins, and Peter Porter. Adare Castle hasn't been out of the exacta in 15 career starts, winning 12 times and finishing second on three occasions, and she has now put away C$848,074. She returned $3.00 to win as the 1-2 favorite.

--quote courtesy of the Ontario Sires Stakes--