Chancey Lady will be looking to defend her Gold final title at Mohawk Racetrack on Saturday night, but trainer John Pentland says the three-year-old pacing filly might still be a week or two short of her best effort after missing five weeks due to sickness.
"She was sick, she was really sick," says the Dorchester, ON resident, who trains Chancey Lady for owner Niele Jiwan of Burnaby, BC. "She raced good for being off that long. And, to be honest, she never really got trained up for that race. It was a hurry up to get her there.
"She definitely needed a tightener. I don't even know if she'll be tight enough this week, but she'll certainly be a lot better," he adds.
Second in her elimination last week, Chancey Lady came home in :27.2 over a track rated one second slower than normal, but could not make up any ground on rival Im Just Special, who cruised along on the front end to a three-length victory in 1:52.4. On Saturday Chancey Lady will start from Post 7, while Im Just Special is saddled with Post 9, but Pentland thinks both fillies will have their hands full with the other elimination winner, Voelz Hanover, who gets Post 3.
"Voelz Hanover is a nice filly. She beat Chancey last year at Hiawatha in a world record," notes Pentland. "I think they'll all be leaving out of there. There will be a lot of speed in the race."
The sophomore fillies will battle for Gold final supremacy in Race 5 on Saturday, and for top prize in the $20,000 Gold consolation in Race 1. Also on the menu for Ontario Sires Stakes fans are a pair of $40,000 Gold eliminations for the remarkably talented two-year-old pacing colts, which will go postward as Races 4 and 8.
Two-time Gold final winner and Metro Pace runner-up Nebupanezzar will be handicapped by the outside Post 10 in the second elimination, facing off against last weekend's Nassagaweya Stakes winner Shipps Xpectancy, who will benefit from Post 2.
Relieved to have missed both of those colts is Jack Darling trainee Stonebridge Terror, who makes his Ontario Sires Stakes debut from Post 7 in the first $40,000 skirmish.
"We'll find out if he's ready to step up to the next level," says Darling. "This will be the test for him Saturday."
Stonebridge Terror heads into the Gold Series with three starts under his belt - two wins and a third-place finish over the Mohawk Racetrack oval. Brian Sears will steer the Western Terror son from Post 7 in Saturday's elimination, and Darling believes the young pacer has the skill to get positioned in the 11-horse field in spite of his relative inexperience.
"He's a smart colt, so if Brian (Sears) want to leave with him it wouldn't be a problem," says the horseman, who purchased the half-brother to $434,342 winner Western Paradise at last year's Lexington Select Yearling Sale for $35,000.
"I really like that colt. Training down he was always kind of my favourite," admits the Cambridge, ON resident, whose two-year-old arsenal also includes top pacing filly St Lads Popcorn, a two-time Gold Final champion and winner of $236,323. "He's just a real likeable colt, very classy and very smart. He absolutely hasn't done a thing wrong."
A top five finish in Saturday's Gold elimination will further cement Stonebridge Terror's status as the favoured freshman, earning him a shot at the September 27 Gold final. The top five finishers from each elimination will earn a return trip to the Campbellville oval for the third Gold final event on their schedule.
In addition to Saturday's stellar Ontario Sires Stakes action, Mohawk Racetrack fans will also be treated to a pair of Milton Stakes Eliminations for the aged pacing mares, and the $728,600 Maple Leaf Trot Final for older trotters. Post time for the exciting stakes laden program is 7:30 p.m.
To view Mohawk's Saturday entries, click here.
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