Two-time O’Brien Award winner Caprice Hill won her four-year-old season debut early Friday evening (June 2) in a $25,000 fillies and mares trot at Mohawk Racetrack for trainer Tony Alagna and owner Tom Hill.
Leaving from post nine, driver Doug McNair pointed Caprice Hill to the front and she worked to command through a :27.1 first quarter. From there, the Kadabra-Bramasole mare led the rest of the way while rebuffing first-over challenger Batoutahill (Mike Vanderkemp) through middle splits of :56.3 and 1:25.1 then holding off pocket pursuer Renegade Magic (Trevor Henry) in the stretch to score in 1:53.3 by a neck. Flowers N Songs (Randy Waples) closed off cover to finish third, four and a half lengths behind.
Caprice Hill won 15 of 25 races and earned over $1.2 million during her award-winning two and three-year-old campaigns. She prepped for her four-year-old season with a pair of qualifiers, including a 1:54 winning mile on May 22 at Mohawk. Tonight, she was sent postward as the odds-on favourite and paid $4.10 to win.
Caprice Hill has won her annual race debut in each of her three seasons on track.
Driven by Rick Zeron, Windsun Revenge took charge off the gate from post six and cruised through fractions of :27, :55.2 and 1:23.2 en route to a one and a half length victory over the oncoming 4-5 favourite, Major Athens (Jody Jamieson). Whiskey Tax (Randy Waples) followed in third-place off a pocket trip.
Windsun Revenge paid $13.30 to win as the 5-1 third wagering choice. The 16-time career winner shaved one-fifth of a second off his lifetime mark. The six-year-old Kadabra-Oaklea Polly gelding, who scored his first victory of the year in four attempts, now has more than $390,000 banked in purses.
(Standardbred Canada)
