DRESDEN, ON — Dresden Raceway celebrates Victoria Day in style with seven Grassroots divisions for the three-year-old pacing fillies this Monday.

The first of five Ontario Sires Stakes events Dresden will host this summer, the sophomore filly event has attracted 56 talented young pacers. Last year’s Grassroots Champion Sweetheart Killean will start from Post 7 in the eleventh race and will lock horns right off the bat with rival Eyes Wide Shut, who has drawn Post 3 for her 2002 debut.

Monday’s event has also attracted a large number of newcomers to the provincial scene, including local filly Country Chill. Donald Strain of Dresden trains Country Chill for his partner Carman Rose of Wallaceburg, and the duo are trying not to be superstitious after drawing Post 7 in Race 13.

“She should do all right. It depends on what kind of trip she gets and how fast they go,” says Strain. “(Driver) Mark MacDonald was high on her when she was winning at Windsor there, but she’s just been kind of dragging along lately.”

Country Chill has been hampered by outside post positions in two of her last three races and Strain adds that sitting patiently behind the pacesetters does not seem to agree with the daughter of Chill Factor.

“They have been taking her off the gate and putting her in a hole and she doesn’t like that much, she thinks the game is over,” says Strain. “Mark drove her in Sarnia (May 9) and he took her off the gate and said that wasn’t the answer.”

The half-sister to Countryview Miss, a winner of $172,112 and one of the stars in last year’s three-year-old pacing filly division, Country Chill has a record of two wins in six starts and Strain notes that she is still in the early stages of her racing education.

“Everybody who drives her says she is really green. She’s a nice looking filly, but looks don’t win any races,” he adds with a chuckle. “I don’t know how she’ll do at Dresden, but she’ll have to prove herself somewhere.”

All 56 fillies will be attempting to prove themselves at Dresden Raceway on Monday. The historic half-mile oval sends its first race behind the gate at 1 pm and the fillies take centre stage in Races 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15. The top five finishers from each division will share the $107,128 total purse and begin to accumulate points toward a berth in the Grassroots post season.