Monkey On My Wheel has yet to capture a Gold Series event this season, but the three-year-old pacing filly heads to Rideau Carleton Raceway on Sunday off two impressive outings in the Canadian Breeders Championship
and trainer Travis Umphrey is hoping she maintains that momentum for two more weeks.
“We were going to skip Ottawa, but she raced so well in the last series and came out of it so well, we decided we should strike while the iron is hot,” says the trainer of Sunday’s Gold Elimination. “I had actually planned to go away for the week, so I had to do a bunch of rearranging.”
With four straight weeks of stakes racing behind her, Umphrey felt Monkey On My Wheel deserved a rest, but after her dominant performance in the Canadian Breeders Championship at Mohawk Racetrack - she won her July 16 elimination by three lengths and the July 23 final by six - he and co-owner Mac Nichol of Burlington decided she could wait two more weeks for her mini-vacation.
“There is a two week span between this and the next one, the SBOA,” notes Umphrey, referring to the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association Stake which gets under way with eliminations at Mohawk Racetrack on Aug. 19.
Having decided the filly would contest the third Gold Series event, Umphrey opted to give her an easy week. Following her 1:50.3 victory in the Canadian Breeders Championship final the filly headed straight for the paddock, where she enjoyed a few days of rest and relaxation before beginning preparations for Sunday’s $40,000 skirmish.
“At this stage in the game we don’t train her very much. In fact this week she had three or four days right out in the paddock,” says Umphrey.
“She’s been, overall, a pretty easy horse to train. I can’t take a lot of credit for her,” adds the Guelph resident. “She’s not too hard to train.”
Last season the daughter of Mach Three and Legislation was a consistent player on the provincial circuit’s top tier, scoring three wins and four seconds in eight starts for earnings of $215,000. Through the first eight starts of her sophomore campaign Monkey On My Wheel has been equally solid, delivering two wins, three seconds and one third for earnings of $153,725, and Umphrey says she has matured both physically and mentally.
“She really filled out, and her front end caught up to her back end,” explains the horseman, noting that the filly’s hindquarters stood several inches taller than her front at two. “And mentally she’s really matured.
“She was a little hot on us off the gate last year, as a two-year-old, but this year you can leave or take her back, she’ll do it either way,” he adds.
Umphrey notes that the filly’s mental maturity will stand her in good stead on Sunday, as she makes the trip to Ottawa. The filly will head east bright and early in the morning, arriving at Rideau Carleton in time for her afternoon nap.
“She’s a great eater in the barn, she takes care of herself,” notes Umphrey. “She does great in the retention barn.”
Randy Waples will steer Monkey On My Wheel from Post 4 in the second Gold Elimination on Sunday, which will see just five fillies roll in behind the Rideau Carleton starting gate. Look Cheap, the reigning Gold Final champion and runner-up to Monkey On My Wheel in both the elimination and final of the Canadian Breeders Championship, will start from Post 4 in the first $40,000 split. With only 10 fillies competing in the elimination round, all but one will earn a return invitation to the Ottawa oval for the Aug. 7 Gold Final.
Post time for Rideau Carleton Raceway’s Sunday evening program is 6:30 p.m. and the three-year-old pacing fillies will show off their speed in Races 2 and 4.
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To view entries for Sunday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Sunday Entries – Rideau Carleton Raceway.