Last week’s elimination winners will line up on opposite ends of the Kawartha Downs gate on Saturday, and trainer Bob McIntosh is not sure whether two-year-old pacing filly division leader Lauren can overcome her outside draw to earn a second Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final title

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“She’s had a good week, she came out of the race good,” said the Hall of Fame horseman. “She’s all set to go if she can overcome her post.”

McIntosh was very pleased with the filly’s effort in last Saturday’s Gold elimination, which saw her sit behind pacesetter Epoxy Queen through the mile and then breeze home to a one length victory in 1:54.3. The win was Lauren’s seventh in 10 starts and pushed her earnings to $185,256.

Windsor, Ont. resident McIntosh conditions the daughter of Modern Art and One Cadet for owner-breeders Gordon and Claudia Wright of Charlotte, Michigan. The filly is the latest star in a family that has had more than its share of success; among One Cadet’s other offspring are $453,585 winner Gro and $263,383 winner Gar.

“He [Gordon Wright] called me — he’s from Michigan — and he called me one day out of the blue,” recalled McIntosh. “They’ve had horses for a long time, and he asked if I would take her. I said I would, and it’s been a nice ride so far.”

Both Lauren’s maternal and paternal grandfathers are by Abercrombie and McIntosh says that she bears many of the traits he has seen in successful Abercrombie-line horses over the years.

“She has a lot of Abercrombie in her — a powerful rear quarter, a roundness and a toughness,” said the veteran horseman. “She’s got a double whack of Abercrombie because she’s by Modern Art.”

McIntosh said the filly is a professional both on and off the racetrack and that her only quirk has been a dislike of dirt and mud hitting her in the face during a race. In her first Gold Series, at Rideau Carleton Raceway in August, Lauren raced over a sloppy oval in both the Gold elimination and final and prevailed both times. In her very next start, a division of the Champlain Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack on Sept. 11, she once again faced a sloppy oval and finished well back in fifth, so the filly has had ample opportunity to get used to the sensation.

“She never did like to follow all winter, she was a little fussy about her head, but that will come with maturity,” said McIntosh. “She sat in the hole the other night at Kawartha.”

Driver Steve Condren will be back in the race bike on Saturday night, looking for a way to overcome Post 8 in the $130,000 skirmish. The Milton, Ont. resident has split his time this season between Lauren and her stablemate Bunkhouse Babe, and will be in the enviable position of having two powerful mounts to choose from when it comes to the season ending Super Final.

At present Lauren leads the division with 225 points, while Bunkhouse Babe, who was absent from last week’s Gold elimination due to sickness, sits fourth with 74. The top 10 point earners at the end of the regular season will compete at Woodbine Racetrack on Nov. 13 for a shot at the division title and the $300,000 Super Final purse.

“Bunkhouse Babe has been battling some sickness, but she should be back for the next leg,” said McIntosh. “They are both nice fillies.”

While Condren attempts to carve out a path from Post 8 to the winner’s circle, Robert Shepherd will be hoping for a repeat of the steer he gave reigning Gold Final champion Monkey On My Wheel in last weekend’s elimination. Last Saturday the pair started from Post 1, and this week they will move just one step to the right, lining up behind Number 2 on the starting gate.

The two-year-old pacing fillies will wage their second last Gold Final battle in the fifth race on Kawartha Downs’ Saturday evening program, which gets underway at 7 p.m.

To view Saturday's entries, click here.

(OSS)