Lady Shadow successfully defended her title in the $370,000 Roses Are Red Stakes for older pacing mares with a wire-to-wire winning effort and went over the million-dollar earnings mark in the process for trainer Ron Adams.

Yannick Gingras picked up the catch-drive on the elimination winner and sent the five-year-old Shadow Play-Lady Camella mare to the lead from post three while the rest of the field lined up behind her. Lady Shadow cruised through fractions of :26.3, :54.1 and 1:21 before holding off the inside closers, Waasmula (Trevor Henry) and Solar Sister (Doug McNair).

Lady Shadow lowered her lifetime mark to 1:48.1, coming within one-fifth of a second of the Canadian record for older pacing mares that was set by Anndrovette, a former three-time Roses Are Red winner and fifth-place finisher as the 3-1 favourite in this year’s edition.

“Believe me I was surprised too that there was no speed on the outside,” said Gingras after the race. “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.”

Lady Shadow is owned by David Kryway of Amherstburg, Ont., along with Carl Atley of Ohio and Pennsylvania’s Edwin Gold and Bfj Stable. The win was Lady Shadow’s third in nine starts this year and 19th lifetime, sending her bankroll to $1,080,541.

She paid $10.50 to win as the 4-1 second choice.

(Standardbred Canada)