Trainer Casie Coleman's trio of juvenile pacing fillies stepped to the front of the class when they swept the 2010 edition of the Eternal Camnation Stakes. The fillies' winning efforts spoke for themselves, but their pilot, Mark MacDonald, explained some things about the young lasses that
the competition probably doesn't want to hear.
During an interview last night with the Woodbine Entertainment Group, MacDonald was asked whether the trio would be able to race week-in, week-out for the rest of the season and still stand up.
"Sure," he responded. They've really been managed. Today we raced them a little bit, and it was their first stakes race so they raced a little bit harder, but there's a great foundation in them and none of them have been hurt. Barring any unforeseen bad luck, I'm sure they will be around until they want to shut them down."
Power-related issues this past Saturday night only allowed one of the Eternal Camnation splits to be contested on the weekend. That dash was won by Idyllic in 1:53.4
"She was awesome," Macdonald said about the brown daughter of American Ideal. "She got lucky to get out and showed a real high speed when she shook loose. She just got out with about 100 feet left -- she was really good."
MacDonald went to say, "She's big and strong. She acts like an aged horse. Like I say, she's got that quick speed, and usually that takes time and maturity, but she's already got that. She's really fast and I really like her a lot."
When the Eternal Camnation splits got back underway on Monday, the Coleman and MacDonald show continued. Even though the best was yet to come, Western Ideal filly Mater Deo stepped out on to the Mohawk oval and showed she was a player in the division as well. After having gained control of the dash before the half, the filly paced to a two-length win in 1:52.3.
"She was good, MacDonald said of Mater Deo. "She's maybe a little bit behind the other two, just maturity-wise. You kind of have to watch her a little at the gate. She's a little funny. She made a break three starts ago. She's just not there mentally. She's got the talent and the stamina that the others do, but she's just not 100 per cent mentally right now. She really showed a lot of courage tonight. She kind of got stung a little bit and was still around at the end in a very good mile in (1:) 52, so she was really good, too."
Last but definitely not least, Coleman and MacDonald clicked again in the Eternal Camnation with Pretty Katherine. The Rocknroll Hanover filly that went on to romp by more than six lengths in a Canadian record of 1:50.4, just one fifth of a second off the 1:50.3 World Record time paced by A And Gs Confusion at the Red Mile in 2007.
"Yeah, she was awesome," MacDonald said. "To be honest with you, she did it really easily. I did pull the earplugs halfway down the stretch just because she was looking at the flags and at the jumbotron a little on the inside there, but that just goes to show how much speed she has. Her ears were straight forward and she was looking at things and she still (almost) went World Record speed. She's ultra impressive."
The O'Brien Award-winning driver said, "She's got a perfect gait. She's got no wasted action. She's got a nice reach and a real nice stride to her. It's very deceiving how easily she gets over the ground. Probably her best attribute is her gait."
He concluded by saying, I've loved Pretty Katherine since the first day I went with her. I trained her when she was about in 2:20 and I've always really liked her a lot; just because she's so mature and has that perfect gait. Her and Idyllic are like racing aged horses. They go up to the gate like aged horses, and you can leave or take them back. That's an attribute to Casie's program and the way they train in sets. They've done a great job with them and they're really fun to drive."