Some of Ontario's top three-year-old trotting fillies are headed to Woodbine Racetrack on Sunday, using a pair of Trillium Series divisions as a prep race for the $300,000 Super Final 13 days later.
"June seems good, she's eating good, and I think she's going to like the colder weather," says trainer Frank O'Reilly, who will harness Warrawee June in the first $35,273 Trillium split. "I hope she'll prep into the Super Final from here."
Ranked sixth in the Gold Series standings, Warrawee June heads into Sunday's race off a pair of solid efforts at Rideau Carleton Raceway in the last Gold event. In the Oct. 5 elimination the Angus Hall miss was caught on the rail and finished second, then returned to Ottawa the next week with a big effort up the outside that saw her finish in a dead heat for the runner-up spot.
"She trotted huge in Rideau," says O'Reilly, who shares ownership on Warrawee June with Toronto residents John and Jim Fielding. "She was locked in the first trip and pretty much locked out the second trip. She was really good."
The Rideau Carleton starts were Warrawee June's first since early September. The filly and her stablemates were hit hard by the virus that circulated through Ontario stables in late summer and she missed a full month of competition. Heading into the lucrative post season O'Reilly and his partners are hoping the filly is ready to bounce back to the form that saw her earn $236,976 in her first nine starts.
Regular reinsman Rick Zeron will steer Warrawee June from Post 2 in the fourth race on Sunday, and O'Reilly says the leggy youngster will be battle ready with very little extra work on his part.
"We've just got to jog her. She'll half run off with you jogging. She'd train herself every day if you let her," says the irreverent horseman. "If I had you jog her every day, you'd sell her to me for a dollar."
Among the fillies that Zeron and Warrawee June will face in their first Trillium appearance of the season are five veterans of the Gold Series, two Grassroots regulars, including division point leader Valley Courtney from Post 8, and American-bred Annie Hall who gets Post 3.
Reigning Gold Final champion Whatta Hotty headlines the second Trillium division, starting from Post 5 in the seventh race. She heads into the contest off a third-place finish in an Oct. 26 overnight at Woodbine Racetrack and will be looking to exact revenge on the fillies that bested her. Winner Torch starts to her right at Post 6, and runner-up Gaelic Mistress will be applying pressure on her left at Post 4.
Post time for Woodbine Racetrack's Sunday evening program is 7:30 p.m., and fans can catch the talented three-year-old trotting fillies in Races 4 and 7.
To view Sunday's entries, click here.
(OSS)