Defending champion Natasha Day blew away the competition with a perfect performance in the final leg of the OLG Ontario Women’s Driving Championship, which opened the Friday night (Oct. 14) card at The Raceway at Western Fair District.

Day swept all six challenge races in the final leg courtesy of Rose Run Why Not ($2.60), Upgrade Valley ($2.70), What Can I Say ($11.30), Mister X ($3.90), Jayport Roadrunner ($3.40) and Azucar Pipedream ($3.30).

“I thought maybe [I would win] one or two and the rest maybe just place chances,” commented Day afterwards. “I wasn’t expecting six at all.

“It’s a great series and we had a lot of fun. I was just blessed with a couple of handy horses and good front-end speed, so I got off the gate really well. This track is a front-end track, so that’s what it all came down to.”

Natasha Day driving Azucar Pipedream to her sixth consecutive victory in the final leg of the OLG Ontario Women’s Driving Championship.​

Day had entered the final leg with an eight-point lead in the standings following stops at Hanover Raceway, Dresden Raceway, Leamington Raceway and Grand River Raceway. She more than doubled her point total to 118 by the end of the night, finishing well ahead of Marielle Enberg and Julie Walker, who were second in a dead-heat with 80 points each. Rounding out the order of finish was Pam Forgie (50 points), Maggie Jones (43 points), Samara Johnson (42 points), Debi O’Brien Moran (25 points), Brittany Kennedy (21 points) and Marie-Claude Auger (16 points), who was unable to continue in the series.

As the overall winner of the Ontario Women’s Driving Championship, Day was awarded $2,000 in prize money, plus a set of custom-made summer driving silks from Graham’s Racing Silks.

The women donated their earnings from the championship series to Harness the Hope, which raises funds, awareness and supports programs that help those affected by cancer.

The Day-driven Mister X was voted “Best Dressed Horse” as part of on-track Harness the Hope 17th anniversary festivities.

After the driving championship concluded, Friday’s card continued with the second leg of the Autumn Series for Ontario-sired two and three-year-old trotting fillies that are non-winners of $10,000 lifetime. Angel Of My Dreams ($3.20) doubled up in the series with a 4-3/4-length victory, taking a new mark of 2:02 with Travis Henry in the sulky. Thomas Riley trains the three-year-old Archangel filly for owners Donald Mitchell and Douglas Elen of Georgetown, Ont. Crazy Lilly and Miss Tory were the best of the rest.

To view Friday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results – Western Fair Raceway.