TORONTO, June 2, 2006 – Buck I St Pat recorded the fastest mile by a three-year-old trotting filly this season and driver Paul MacDonell captured the other two splits with John Bax pupils, as three C$75,000 divisions of the Casual Breeze Stakes highlighted the Friday evening program of racing from Woodbine.

In the third division, with pilot Dave Palone in tow, Buck I St Pat ($3.60, $3.00, $3.00) sat second to the :27.4 opening quarter before the invading driver sent his mount first-up, clearing easily in the backstretch prior to the :57.2 half-miler marker. From there the daughter of Jailhouse Jesse clicked off three quarters in 1:27.1 and came the final quarter-mile in 28 seconds all on her own.

Buck I St Pat eventually recorded a 1:55.1 mile, which stands as a new stakes record.

WEG Photo

In the opening division, Oaklea Omega, a Balanced Image filly trained by John Bax, took a pocket trip and eventually trotted away to a two-length victory in a life’s mark clocking of 1:57.2 for driver Paul MacDonell.

Armbro Domino ($4.60, $4.50) and driver Chris Christoforou finished second, 5½ lengths in arrears, completing the $14.50 exactor. With Charlie Norris at her controls, Clareen ($13.60) finished five and three-quarter lengths back of Buck I St Pat, rounding out the $208.80 triactor.

"She was wrapped up finishing," Palone said about Buck I St Pat, who is eligible to Woodbine’s Elegantimage Stakes (June17) and is owned by Howard Taylor, Edwin Gold, Abraham Basen and R. R. Fuller. "I was a little concerned going out of there [leaving the gate]. I didn’t want to get her hot and have to release someone and maybe have her jump out of gear. We missed the gate a little bit, but she’s a quality filly."

Buck I St Pat won six of her eight races as a two-year-old and has now notched two wins in her three starts so far this campaign.

In the opening division, Oaklea Omega ($6.10, $2.90, $2.30), a Balanced Image filly trained by John Bax, took a pocket trip and eventually trotted away to a two-length victory in a life’s mark clocking of 1:57.2 for driver Paul MacDonell.

After coming first-over on the final turn, Exquisite Way ($10.10, $5.20) and driver Rick Zeron finished second, rounding out the $76.90 exactor.

With pilot Luc Ouellette at her lines, Gastine ($3.80) cut the fractions in :28.4, :100.1 and 1:29.4, respectively, and finished three length back of Oaklea Omega, completing the $382.40 triactor.

"I was really happy with her effort," said MacDonell, who helped improved Oaklea Omega’s seasonal record to 1-3-0 from her fifth start,. "When she came off cover just past the three-quarters pole she had a ton of trot left. The trip really helped her."

Oaklea Omega, who is eligible to the Elegantimage, now has three career wins on her card for owners Parkhill Stud Farm, Brilo Farms, Glenn Van Camp and Venture K Stables.

MacDonell picked up his second Casual Breeze win of the evening in the second division, as he piloted another Bax trainee, Oaklea Odessa ($3.20, $2.40, $2.20), to a gate-to-wire victory in 1:56.3, extending the Balanced Image filly’s 2006 unbeaten streak to five.

Fresh off her sweep of an O.S.S. Gold Series event at Hiawatha Horse Park, Oaklea Odessa, also eligible to the Elegantimage, recorded the fractions in :28.2, :59-flat and 1:28.4 before coming home with a :27.4 final quarter to seal the 2¾-length victory.

Driven by Jeff Gregory, Mai Tai ($12.30, $6.10) finished second and rounded out the $75.30 exactor, while Drugeda ($4.90) and driver Trevor Ritchie finished three lengths in arrears and completed the $380.00 triactor.

Pure Ivory, an O’Brien and WEG Award winner in 2005, broke stride early and was subsequently distanced.

"I figured she’d be tough to beat after getting there [the opening half-mile] unstressed. Even the third quarter was pretty leisurely for her, so she was able to snap home pretty good with a fast fraction off that," MacDonell said about Oaklea Odessa.

Peaceful Way qualifies in 1:53.4

Multiple O’Brien and WEG Award winning trotter Peaceful Way corrected herself during the Mohawk qualifying session Friday morning and blazed to a 1:53.4 victory – the fastest ever qualifying mile by a trotting mare in Canada.

On May 23, Peaceful Way had paraded onto the Campbellville oval to put in her first qualifying mile of 2006, but ran before and after the quarter pole in the dash and was subsequently distanced.

Needless to say, the five-year-old daughter of Angus Hall who has banked over $2.4-million in her career, was on point this morning.

After leaving from post seven with Trevor Ritchie in the bike, the winner of  28 career races and multiple stakes was parked in third to the :28.2 quarter pole, cleared to the lead in the second quarter and recorded the middle fractions in :57-flat and 1:26.1, respectively.

Peaceful Way kicked home with :27.3 final quarter speed and recorded a 5½-length margin of victory for trainer Dave Tingley, who co-owns the mare along with breeder Angie Stiller, the Goin My Way Stable, Marvin Katz, Al Libfeld and Sam Goldband.

Style, the Rustler Hanover filly who was also an O’Brien and WEG Award winner in 2005, put in her first qualifying effort of the season during the session and stepped to a quarter-length win clocked in 1:55.3.

The John Kopas trainee was in rein to driver Steve Condren and the duo left from post two and slipped into the four-hole before the :28.2 quarter pole flashed to life. Condren had the three-year-old into the flow in third at the :58.4 half-mile marker and was second at the 1:27 third stanza. Style held off both Mid Life and Wingandaprayer in the lane before hitting the wire.

Racing in his second qualifier since taking a two-month hiatus from the WEG circuit, Paula Wellwood student Southwind Rome recorded a wire-to-wire mile with Paul MacDonell in the bike. The four-year-old Muscles Yankee gelding, who won the 2006 edition General Brock Trotting Series, recorded the fractions in :29.4, :59.3 and 1:28.4 before coming home with a :28.3 final quarter to stop the clock in 1:57.2.

Other victorious horses on the morning included three-year-old Royal Ballad gelding Mvs Grand Ballad (1:58.1), three-year-old D M Dilinger filly Heartache Tonight (1:56.2), three-year-old CR Commando filly CR Zoe Faith (2:00.3) and five-year-old Make A Deal mare Make Us Some Silver (1:55.1).