Ms Mac N Cheese held off her slightly more popular stablemate, the 3-5 bettors’ choice Sandbetweenurtoes, to win the $30,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred Pace on Friday night (January 13) at Woodbine Racetrack.

The Richard Moreau trainees finished 1-2 with P L Hurricane (Randy Waples), a winner in the distaff feature last time out on December 23, closing out of the pocket in between the pair for third.

Driver Sylvain Filion sent Ms Mac N Cheese on a front-end mission, leaving from post three and carving out panels of :27.3 and :57.1 before Sandbetweenurtoes (Doug McNair) began to advance from fifth. However, Ms Mac N Cheese still held a two-length lead as she passed three-quarters in 1:25.4, and while her barn buddy was gaining ground in the final sixteenth of the mile, she held on to win by a head in 1:53.2.

Sent postward as the 3-1 second wagering favourite, Ms Mac N Cheese paid $8.30 to win.

The five-year-old Badlands Hanover mare won her season’s debut following a $200,000 campaign in 2016 for owner David Ratchford of North Sydney, N.S.

Moreau and Filion, both O’Brien Award nominees following top seasons on the WEG circuit, also teamed up to win with trotter Exemplar ($4.80) earlier on the program.

(Standardbred Canada)