Of the 14 freshman pacing fillies heading to Windsor Raceway on Wednesday for a pair of $40,000 Gold eliminations, five will be making their first start at the Gold Series level.
Among the newcomers is Putnam Mackenzie, who heads into Wednesday’s test off a 1:55.3 victory over Mohawk Racetrack in her first lifetime start. The Grinfromeartoear lass will make her Gold Series debut from Post 3 in the first elimination and trainer Jamie Bardoel is crossing his fingers that she can match strides with the province’s best.
"Paul [MacDonell] drove her good at Mohawk last week, and she looked like she did it pretty easy, so Dad and I decided to give her a shot," says the London resident, who shares ownership of Putnam Mackenzie with his parents through their Putnam Training Centre Ltd. of Mossley. "I don’t know if she’ll be able to go with them or not, but I think she’ll be all right."
The third foal from the Bardoel’s $383,471 winning mare Royas Bambi, Putnam Mackenzie has progressed effortlessly through her lessons thus far. With Jason Brewer in the race bike, the filly made her qualifying debut at Mohawk Racetrack on August 31, pacing around the seven-eighths mile oval in 1:58. She and Brewer logged a second qualifier at Mohawk one week later, improving their time by four-fifths of a second.
"We gave her a little time off throughout the winter, and I never trained her, just jogged and jogged and jogged. Once the snow was almost gone and we had a decent track I started training her and it just happened to work out that she’s starting to come around now," explains Bardoel.
"Jason [Brewer] did all the schooling and qualifying, and he had the bit in her mouth at the wire all the time," adds the horseman. "He did a good job finishing her."
Brewer will steer Putnam Mackenzie in Wednesday’s Gold elimination test, facing off against three-time Grassroots winners Lyons Anitacol and Misty Moonstone from Posts 1 and 6, former Gold Final winner Bay Girl from Post 5, and two-time Grassroots winner Deliciouslynaughty from Post 7. Bardoel is hoping Putnam Mackenzie will fit in with the talented field and find her way into the October 7 Gold Final.
"She is a nice filly, I think. I hope she is anyway," says the trainer. "We’ll find out in the next start or two."
The filly’s dam, Royas Bambi, was a two-time Gold elimination winner as a freshman and capped off the 2000 season by winning the two-year-old pacing filly Super Final. Bardoel says Putnam Mackenzie resembles her mother far more then her elder siblings, and hopes she can deliver similar results.
"Other than her colour, she’s identical to her mother — a big, strong filly," says the horseman. "She doesn’t look like the two colts before her, she’s more like her mother."
To earn a return invitation to Windsor Raceway for the October 7 Gold Final, Putnam Mackenzie will need a top four finish. The top four finishers from each $40,000 elimination, plus one fifth-place finisher drawn by lot, will advance to the $130,000 Gold Final.
The two-year-old pacing fillies square off in Races 2 and 4 on Wednesday, with Windsor Raceway’s first race rolling up behind the starting gate at 7 p.m.
To view Wednesday's harness racing entries, click here.
(OSS)