CAMPBELLVILLE, June 18 – Harness racing driver Yannick Gingras put Lady Shadow on the front and never looked back to win the $370,000 Roses Are Red Saturday night on the Pepsi North America Cup undercard at Mohawk Raceway.
An impressive group of ten older pacing mares clashed in the Roses Are Red, but just like last year, Lady Shadow took home the winner's share of the purse.
The Ron Adams trainee was put on the engine by Gingras from post three, as the rest of the field lined up in post position order.
Lady Shadow carved out fractions of :26.3, :54.1 and 1:21 to bring the field to the top of the lane. In the stretch, the Adams trainee continued to power along and showed her class winning by a length and a half in a career best 1:48.1.
"Believe me I was surprised too that there was no speed on the outside," said Gingras. "I watched a few of her replays and looked at her lines from last year and before that because I was actually thinking about racing her off the back, especially with the way the card has been playing out, the front hasn't been that good.
"Obviously she is better on the front, her lines show that, but when the gate folded nobody left so it made my decision easy."
Waasmula, who got a pocket trip, finished second, while Solar Sister came up the rail for third.
A five-year-old daughter of Shadow Play, Lady Shadow pushed her career earnings over the $1 million mark with her 19th career win. She is owned by David Kryway, Carl Atley, Edwin Gold and BFJ Stable.
Lady Shadow now has three wins in nine starts this season. She paid $10.50 to win.
Mark McKelvie