INNISFIL — Seven two-year-old pacing fillies will brave the provincial waters for the first time on Saturday evening in an $80,531 Trillium Series contest over Georgian Downs’ five-eighths mile oval.
Six Ontario-breds and one Ohio-bred youngster will kick start their season in the Trillium, open to any Ontario-owned filly, and Georgian Downs odds makers have selected Lucky In Lust as one of their top choices to make a splash in the first two-year-old event of the season.
“She has a bit of a turn of speed, but I don’t know how much yet,” says the filly’s owner, Edward James of Aurora. “She was good right from the get go and has done everything we have asked to this point, but we shall see Saturday.”
James acquired Lucky In Lust at last fall’s Canadian Classic Yearling Sale for just $17,000. The daughter of Northern Luck and Lusty Lass is a half-sister to $277,944 winner Macks Table and heads into Saturday’s event off a solid qualifier at Mohawk Racetrack on June 7 where she finished fourth with a 2:00 effort.
“She was recommended to us by her breeder (James Mackey of Hamilton) at the sale. We wanted a colt and a filly and bought her as the filly,” recalls James. “This is the first Northern Luck we have had and we’re quite happy. Northern Luck is turning out to be quite a sire.”
Rod Hennessy trains Lucky In Lust, who will start from Post 4 in the sixth race with Paul Mackenzie in the race bike, while Hennessy teams her stablemate Octave Hanover from Post 2.
“Rod Hennessy is, in my opinion, as good a man as there is with young horses,” says the long time Standardbred owner. “He knows how to get young horses to the races. He’s a good man, a good trainer and a good driver.”
James adds that he prefers to place his horses in the care of trainers who drive their own stock. “I think they make horses last longer because they have to look at them the next morning. There are two elements, one is speed and the other is durability, and they don’t necessarily go together.”
Hennessy will start a total of four horses for James at Georgian Downs on Saturday evening. In addition to Lucky In Lust, the Aurora resident will be rooting for Cam In Black in Race 8, Nearly Away in Race 10, and Palm Beach County in Race 11.
Georgian Downs calls the first of 11 races to the post at 7:30 pm on Saturday night and the two-year-old pacing fillies will grab the spotlight from the veterans in Race 6, but festivities get under way early for anyone celebrating the big 3-0 this year.
As part of the Ontario Sires Stakes 30th anniversary celebrations the first 100 people who are celebrating their 30th birthday in 2003 can pop a ballooon to win great Georgian Downs and Ontario Sires Stakes prizes. The fun starts at 5:30 pm and goes until the last balloon is popped.