TORONTO, November 16 – Ontario sired two-year-old fillies were in the spotlight Monday night at Woodbine Racetrack for a pair of Autumn Series finals. The $29,400 final for trotting fillies and $31,800 final for pacing fillies wrapped up the three-week series event In the trotting final, Liberty Lane picked the perfect time to break her maiden, as she scored a 6/1 upset in 1:57.3. Driven by Sylvain Filion, Liberty Lane started from post seven in the field of seven and trotted out strong to try for the lead. After being parked by the opening-quarter, Liberty Lane eventually cleared to the front ahead of the favourite Haileysgonedancing. After posting fractions of :57.3 and 1:27.4, Liberty Lane would not be denied her first victory and held off Haileysgonedancing for a length and a half victory. Jagersro had good closing speed to finish third, while Erja was fourth. A daughter of Deweycheatumnhowe, Liberty Lane is trained by Paul Reid for owner Robert Key. The rookie trotting filly entered the Autumn Series final winless in 10 starts and exited with earnings of over $33,000. Liberty Lane paid $15.40 to win. All eyes were on Lay Lady Lay, the 2/5 favourite, in the pacing filly final, as the Chris Matthews trainee aimed for a series sweep. However, things did not go as planned. Several fillies flashed early speed seeking the front end with Lady Marina the quickest away. Noone To Depend and Jody Jamieson were not content with the two-hole and quickly circled to the front at the opening-quarter. The lead was short lived for Noone To Depend On, as Top Royal, who had yet to see the pylons, touched down on the front early in the backstretch. Meanwhile, Lay Lady Lay did not show early speed and got away seventh. After posting a half of :55.4, Top Royal, who was 12/1, carried the lead around the final turn with Active Lady coming from fifth to press first up. Lay Lady Lay got into the outside flow and was third-over around the final turn, but the favourite made a break and took herself out of contention. Top Royal reached the three-quarter pole in 1:24.3 to bring the field into the stretch. Lady Marina was able to slip off the rail to the outside to try and track down the leader. Lady Marina would get to within less than a length of the lead, but Top Royal showed plenty of grit to fight her off and hold on for the victory in 1:54.1. Noone To Depend On shot up the rail late and nosed out Lady Marina for second, while Active Lady was fourth. A daughter of Royal Mattjesty, Top Royal is trained by Heather Toll and now has six wins from 15 starts in her rookie season. Toll shares ownership of the filly with Brydown Farms Inc. Top Royal matched her career-mark of 1:54.1 with the victory and pushed her earnings to over $44,000. The Toll trainee returned $26.90 to win. In order to be eligible to the Autumn Series, the Ontario sired two-year-olds had to be non-winners of $30,000 lifetime as of September 30, 2015. Autumn Series action continues Thursday evening (November 19) with the finals for the two-year-old colts and geldings. Post time is 7:30 p.m. Share This:Share
