HANOVER – After battling against the province’s best two-year-old pacing fillies for the last two months, Power Of An Angel returned home to Hanover Raceway and found her way to the winner’s circle in the first of five $21,450 Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots divisions on Saturday, Sept. 4.
“Finally something went our way and we got a little lucky,” said trainer Roger Gebhardt. “I always liked her. She was a very nice filly. I broke her and trained her down and then I sent her down to Martin Lachance for four months, expecting her to do well in the Golds, and things didn’t turn out. She had some really bad luck in the Gold Series.”
Fortune smiled on Power Of An Angel on Saturday as she left well from Post 2 and tucked in behind fan favourite Warrawee Xpat. As that filly rang up fractions of :28.4, 1:00.1 and 1:29, and then fought off a challenge from Speaker Nancy around the final turn, driver James MacDonald waited for his opportunity with Power Of An Angel. Coming off the turn he slid Power Of An Angel out three-wide and the filly sprinted home to a one length victory in 1:58.2. Speaker Nancy finished second and Warrawee Xpat settled for third.
“I was just really fortunate, a lot of times you don’t get out of the two-hole there, but I got to kind of swing out across and when she saw some real estate at the top of the stretch she went by,” said MacDonald, who was making his first appearance in the filly’s race bike. “She’s a nice filly and she was racing against a lot tougher, so it was good to see her get some confidence and get a ‘W’.”
