Bruce Richardson, one of the leading drivers at Western Fair Raceway, picked up what would prove to be a very profitable catch drive in early September
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Multiple award winning trainer Blair Burgess asked Richardson to pilot his three-year-old trotting filly Friendly Amigo in a $130,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final at Grand River Raceway. Richardson responded by not only guiding the filly to victory from post six, their time of 1:56.4 established a new track record.
That effort has earned Richardson the drive on the filly since that race and he’ll have the chance to display the talented trotter at his home track of Western Fair on Saturday evening in the second of two $33,263 Trillium Series divisions. Friendly Amigo, a winner of $275,000 so far this year, comes into the event fresh from an impressive six length win in a Trillium division at Woodbine last weekend. The time in that race, 1:55.1, is her life best.
Tomorrow night in London, Friendly Amigo will leave from post one in race 10. The filly is a daughter of a former star in the Burgess barn, Amigo Hall, and is owned by the trainer’s wife Karin Olsson and father Bob Burgess, who also bred Friendly Amigo. Ironically, they also bred one of the filly’s competitors in the event, Amigococoa, who has drawn post five with Dave Wall down to steer.
Bonnie Berg of Putnam, Ontario, purchased Amigococoa from the Burgess family earlier this year. Her husband Arne Berg handles the training and the filly comes into the race with three wins and a second in her last four starts including an eight length 2:03 romp at Western Fair in her most recent outing.
Richardson, who currently sits in third in the Western Fair drivers’ standings, also has a steer in the first Trillium division, race five, but he didn’t do as well on the draw as SOS Respect leaves from post seven in the seven horse field. Trained by Kevin O’Reilly for owners Terry and Clarence Devos of Langton, Ontario, the consistent filly has earned $106,511 this year but has yet to reach the winner’s circle.
Saturday’s Trillium events mark the final 2009 Ontario Sires Stakes events at the London, Ontario half-miler. Post time is 7:05 p.m. Program pages and live video are always available at www.westernfair.com.
To view Saturday's entries, click here.
(Western Fair Raceway)