MILTON, May 18, 2018 – The team of owner Carl Kuepfer and trainer Patrick Shepherd had a memorable Friday evening at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The duo sent out four starters on the 12-race program and made four-trips to the winner’s circle. Reinsman Doug McNair sat behind three of the winners, while Louis Philippe Roy had the other winning drive. Shepherd and Kuepfer started the evening off by sweeping the opening three-races on the card. Claiming pacer Fern Hill Breeze ($4.20) got things rolling by registering his third win in five starts. The second-half of the ‘Daily Double’ was won by six-year-old trotting mare Talbotcreek Suzie ($3.90), who won her second straight for the Shepherd stable and fourth-overall. The third win of the evening was the biggest price of the four-victories, as pacing mare E R Rhonda prevailed by a head in a $10,000 claiming event. The seven-year-old paid $10.50 to win. Trotting mare Stirling Boudica ($3.50) went coast-to-coast in the evening’s eighth-race to cap off the memorable evening for Kuepfer and Shepherd. The eight-year-old was returning to the Shepherd barn after a week away and has now won three consecutive starts in his barn. Shepherd now has 10 wins in 27 starts this season at Woodbine Mohawk Park for an eye-catching winning percentage of 37 per cent. He currently sits third in the Trainer Standings. The $30,000 Mares Preferred was Friday’s feature race with a wide-open field of nine battling from start to finish. P L Hurricane and driver Sylvain Filion came from third-over on the far turn to sweep by rivals and score a 27-1 upset in 1:52.3. Artistic Madison, who was 51-1, split between rivals to grab second. Circle The Page finished third despite making a first-turn break for the third-straight start, while Clear Idea, who won last week’s edition and was the 3-2 favourite, finished fourth. P L Hurricane rarely misses a cheque and Friday’s 27th career victory pushed her over $500,000 in career earnings. The seven-year-old is owned and trained by Dave Brown and now has back to back wins to bring her 2018 record to three wins and 12 top-three finishes in 18 starts. A $2 win ticket on P L Hurricane returned $57.40, while the $2 Exacta with Artistic Madison paid $847.90. Live racing continues Saturday evening with the annual Fireworks and Family Fun Night. A special post-time of 6:45 p.m. has been issued. Share This:Share
