Returning to the scene of her Selene Stakes victory last spring, the Mark Casse-trained filly Miss Mo Mentum accelerated off the final turn in Sunday’s $125,000 Trillium Stakes to earn another Grade 3 title at Woodbine Racetrack.
With Jerome Lermyte aboard in the 1-1/16-mile fillies and mares feature, Miss Mo Mentum settled inside mid-pack. Meanwhile, 2-1 favourite Tapa Tapa Tapa led the 10-horse field through fractions of :24.70, :49.19 and 1:13.08 with Lunar Garden and Bear Paw pressing the pace and Dixie Moon hot on their heels.
“The speed was fast enough to be comfortable,” noted Lermyte afterwards. “She doesn’t have early speed, but then she can get on the bridle and she kind of did in the first turn but then she relaxed pretty well. Mid-turn I was starting to get really confident. She was showing me that she has a lot to give and she produced amazing acceleration and that made a difference.”
Miss Mo Mentum angled outside to find a clear path approaching the final turn and launched four-wide as she accelerated down the stretch to the 1-1/4 length victory, stopping the clock in 1:43.30. Early trailer Hot Cash rallied into a place photo and nosed out Dixie Moon for the runner-up honours while the favoured front-runner Tapa Tapa Tapa settled for fourth.
Miss Mo Mentum, who started her four-year-old campaign with a pair of one-mile turf races at Gulfstream Park, returned $17.10 to win as the 7-1 fourth choice.
She was competing back at Woodbine for the first time since her runner-up effort in last September’s La Lorgnette behind eventual Breeders’ Cup champion Shamrock Rose.
The daughter of Uncle Mo out of Somalia was bred in Kentucky by Ralph Kinder, Erv Woolsey and Uncle Mo Syndicate. She has now won a third of her 15 career starts and more than $300,000 in purse earnings.
Live Thoroughbred racing resumes on Wednesday evening at Woodbine, with first race post time set for 6:45 p.m.
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