CAMPBELLVILLE, NOV. 8, 2001 — Kevin McMaster flexed his muscles in the Ontario Sires Stakes program for the first time this season and the Woodbine Entertainment Group’s leading trainer qualified a pair of three-year-old pacing fillies for Saturday’s Super Final Championship.
After delivering consistent performances all year Twin B Rosebud wrapped up the regular season with a triumph in the last Gold Final. The Dexter Nukes lass circled the Mohawk oval on Nov. 3 to post the 1:54 victory for McMaster and his partners David Serwatuk of Hamilton, Robin Watts of Burlington and Cesar Kowalski of Stoney Creek.
“She raced really good,” says McMaster. “She came three-wide a bit quicker than I expected, than I would have liked, but she hung game right to the wire.”
The mile was just one-fifth of a second off Twin B Rosebud’s personal best effort and McMaster says it is no accident the filly’s sharpest miles have come on cool 5 degree Celsius evenings.
“The cold weather helps her a lot because she has allergies,” says the Guelph resident. “The last three starts she’s been pretty good and we’re hoping for a cold night (Saturday).”
Twin B Rosebud’s stablemate Cueless finished fourth in the Nov. 3 Gold Final after winning her Elimination in a personal best 1:54 one week earlier.
“Cueless raced good too, she finished good. She got a little far back, but she was closing at the wire,” says McMaster, who trains the Run The Table filly for owner Clarence Varcoe of Alliston. “It’s pretty close between them. If Cueless get a trip she can beat Twin B Rosebud and if Twin B Rosebud gets a trip she can beat Cueless.”
Throughout the regular season Twin B Rosebud scored one win, one second, two thirds and a fifth in Gold Elimination action and one win, two thirds and a seventh in four Gold Final starts. Cueless recorded wins in two Gold Eliminations, along with one second, one third and one sixth-place result. In four Gold Final starts she finished second once, fourth once and fifth twice.
The duo finished third and fourth in the standings with 191 and 180 points and will attempt to take home a sizable chunk of the $250,000 purse from Posts 8 and 9 on Saturday.
“I don’t like it,” says McMaster in response to the fillies’ post position draw for Race 8. “It’s a different story now. Hopefully Mario (Baillargeon) and Rick (Zeron) can work out a trip.”
Both drivers will be keeping close watch on division leader Northern Cameo from Post 5, Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association Stake winner Silver Seven from Post 2 and Grassroots Champion Private Session from Post 3.
In the three-year-old trotting filly event Donven Promise will be looking for her third win in Ontario Sires Stakes action. The Promising Catch daughter scored wins in both Gold Eliminations she entered, but ran into tough luck in the Finals, finishing third.
On Saturday Donven Promise will make her bid for the Championship crown from Post 6 and trainer-driver Tom Strauss says the filly will be on her toes for the $250,000 event after posting an eight length 1:58 victory in Trillium Series action at Windsor Raceway on Oct. 19.>{?Kevin McMaster flexed his muscles in the Ontario Sires Stakes program for the first time this season and the Woodbine Entertainment Group’s leading trainer qualified a pair of three-year-old pacing fillies for Saturday’s Super Final Championship.
“She won down there (Windsor) handy and came out of it good and brave,” says the Acton resident. “It would have been nice to get a race before (Nov. 10), but it didn’t fill so I trained her up pretty good.”
The filly’s owner Arena Venasse will make the trip to Campbellville on Saturday to see Donven Promise compete and Strauss would like to see the North Bay resident add a trip to the winner’s circle to her itinerary. Venasse’s husband Don bred the filly and passed away just before she won her first Gold Elimination in August.
The veteran reinsman expects his protege will have to best division leader Yankee Fribble and reigning Gold Final champion Gypsy Balance to reach the winner’s enclosure. Both fillies head into the Super Final off starts in the Oct. 19 Breeders Crown Final where they finished fourth and ninth. Yankee Fribble will start from Post 1 while Gypsy Balance lines up at Post 5.
“I expect they are both going to give me a tussle to get out of there,” says Strauss, adding that 2000 OSS champion Sharise Seelster is also a threat. “My filly can race either way —at least she used to be able to, I’ve raced her the last couple of times from the front — but it’s tough to gain any ground coming from the back against these kind of fillies.”
The sophomore trotting fillies square off in Race 6 on Saturday night, the first of the four three-year-old events.
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Super Final action starts at 7:40 pm on Saturday. The top two-year-olds are featured in Races 1, 2, 3, and 5 and the top three-year-olds take centre stage in Races 6, 7, 8, and 9.
Fans who cannot make it to Campbellville can catch all the excitement of the OSS Super Finals at home on cable television’s The Score from 9 to 11 pm EDT.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT SANDRA SNYDER AT 519-656-2017 (TEL./FAX) OR smsnyder@sentex.net.
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