Oney Hall battles to first Preferred of the year

Oney Hall (Deweycheatumnhowe), winner of six straight top-level harness racing contests at Woodbine Mohawk Park last year, took his first of 2023 in the $32,000 Preferred-2 on Monday night (Jun. 5).

The gelding, driven by Trevor Henry, stuck to the pylons through a lively first half that saw three leaders and panels of :27.1 and :56. The onus fell on him going to three-quarters, and he marched out of fourth to take on odds-on leader Locatelli (James MacDonald).

It was neck and neck through the third station in 1:24.4, and the two raced down the stretch on even terms. It took until the last 1/16th of a mile for either to decide it – and it was Oney Hall who powered clear with a few strides to go and captured the Preferred-2 in 1:53.3.

Locatelli was a game second by three-quarters-of-a-length. Franks Angel (Bob McClure) surged late and dead-heated with Perfetto (Dagfin Henriksen) for show.

ONEY HALL REPLAY

Oney Hall notched his 30th career victory with the effort. The seven-year-old has raked in $535,714 from 102 starts. Chantal Mitchell, co-owner with Alan Leavitt of Lexington, trains the gelding. Oney Hall is three-for-11 this season.

Woodbine Mohawk Park hosts its first Tuesday card of the year on Jun. 6. The 10-race card will feature three divisions of the Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots for three-year-old pacing males, beginning at 7:00 p.m. EDT.

For complete race results, .

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink