O’Brien Award finalist Frenchfrysnvinegar was a winner at Woodbine Racetrack on Monday evening in what was just her second start off the shelf since capturing last year’s Breeders Crown Mare Trot at the Rexdale oval.
Keith Oliver subbed in the racebike behind Frenchfrysnvinegar, and after watching Vacation Day lead to the quarter pole in a :28-second clip the mare took matters into her own hands. She brushed from the two-hole to the lead and threw down fractions of :58 and 1:26.2 before using a :28.1 final frame to win by 1-1/2 lengths over race favourite Take My Picture. Vacation Day managed to hang around and grab the show dough in the $38,000 Preferred tilt.
Jeff Gillis, who is an O’Brien Award finalist for the first time in his career, trains the seven-year-old daughter of Angus Hall-Gugus for owner David Smith of Rockwood, ON. The mare, who is a 23-time winner in her career, has banked $635,575 to date.