Up until June 1, Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final hopeful Legzy was officially known as Legs Go On Forever.
The name seemed appropriate when the filly was born at Ted Wilson’s Seagrave farm two years ago; the newborn daughter of Amigo Hall-Sahalee had legs so long the horseman wondered if she would even be able to scramble to her feet. As time passed, however, the filly just seemed to grow into her legs rather than stretching up taller, so by qualifying time this June Legs Go On Forever seemed an odd choice for a filly of her diminutive stature.
“As she grew, her legs didn’t seem so long anymore,” explains Wilson, who shares ownership of the two-year-old trotting filly with Michael Pozefsky of Saratoga Springs, New York. “Her nickname was Legzy, so we changed her name.”
While her name may have changed, Legzy’s natural ability and single-mindedness did not, and those characteristics carried the filly to a Gold elimination win at Kawartha Downs last week. Well back of the leaders for much of the mile, Legzy had to circle out three-wide around the final turn to find racing room and then battle down the stretch to score the neck victory over Muscle Magic in 1:59.4.
“She kind of was all over the track in that race, you know, pulled out and got pushed wide, but she trotted very strong for home and hopefully that will be an asset that she will need to pick up on the mistakes of others,” says trainer Rob Fellows of the filly’s elimination effort.
Driver Rick Zeron engineered Legzy’s come-from-behind victory, but opted for his other elimination winner Bee A Magician (Post 9) for Thursday’s $130,000 Gold Final, so Sylvain Filion will steer Legzy from Post 2 in the eighth race.
“It’s tough with a young filly, the first three starts she went behind the gate, she got three different drivers,” notes Fellows. “But Sylvain was one of the ones that qualified her so he’ll get along good with her.”
Fellows will not only be watching Thursday’s Gold Final closely, the horseman will also be viewing Races 2 through 7 with interest as 46 two-year-old trotting fillies make their Ontario Sires Stakes debuts in the Grassroots program.
“At this age, this early in the season, you’re trying to look to see where the pecking order is going to be, whether we’ll even be in it as the year goes forward or whether we’ll have to drop down a notch,” he explains. “It’ll be very interesting because on the same night the Grassroots are going on the same track, so we’ll be able to compare whether some of them should be up or not.”
Trainer John Bax will harness a filly in the Gold Final and send one out in the fourth Grassroots division. Like Fellows, the Peterborough resident will be assessing the competition, but he will also be using the juxtaposition of the two events to assess his own starters. Her Name Is Lola, who captured her Gold Elimination last week, actually qualified slower than stablemate and paddock buddy Random Majority.
“I just thought we’d start a little easier with her,” says Bax of Random Majority, who he owns and trains in partnership with his son Matthew. “She’s a little excitable and we thought if she didn’t get extended too early it might be better down the road.
“She was pretty good,” he says of the filly’s 2:01.4 qualifying effort at Mohawk Racetrack on June 22. “I just felt she was maybe not quite as mature as the other ones.”
Bax started three fillies in last week’s elimination round, with Her Name Is Lola posting a win and Bop Too The Top and Charmed Life finishing third in their respective splits and sitting in the first and second Also Eligible positions for Thursday’s final.
Gaelic Stable of Sharon and Don Allensen of Camlachie share ownership of Her Name Is Lola with Bax’s Parkhill Stud Farm, acquiring the Majestic Son daughter at last year’s Harrisburg Yearling Sale for $30,000. The filly delivered an impressive front-end effort over her local oval last week, fighting off a challenge from favourite Standing My Ground to score the half length victory in 2:00.
“I was really impressed with her,” says Bax of the filly’s elimination win. “It looked like that other horse (Standing My Ground) was going to go right by, but as soon as they got beside her she dug back in and went right on again.”
Paul MacDonell will steer Her Name Is Lola from Post 3 in Thursday’s Gold Final test, with the other elimination winner, Tymal Tessa, getting Post 4 in Race 8. Bax will hand Random Majority’s lines over to Stephen Byron, who will send the Duke Of York filly after a share of the $24,000 Grassroots purse from Post 6 in the fifth race.
Kawartha Downs sends its first race in behind the starting gate at 7 p.m. on Thursday and then turns the show over to Ontario’s talented two-year-old trotting fillies. The Grassroots contenders will compete in Races 2 through 7, with the Gold fillies taking centre stage in Race 8.
To view entries for Thursday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Thursday Entries – Kawartha Downs.
(OSS)