REXDALE, ON — Heading into Friday’s $130,000 Gold Final for three-year-old pacing fillies at Woodbine Racetrack, reigning Gold Final champion Burning Point appears to have all the cards stacked in her favour.
Prior to last weekend’s 1:53 elimination win the Camluck filly posted a 1:50.3 Ontario Sires Stakes record in her June 23 Final win and then, because she was not eligible to the Canadian Breeders Championship, spent three weeks going head to head with some of the best fillies and mares in North America.
“She wasn’t eligible, the breeder didn’t pay her in. I guess he didn’t think she was good enough as a two-year-old,” says Kenneth Solomon, who shares ownership on Burning Point with his cousin Shelby Novick of Boca Raton, FL. “So we raced her in a couple of Open races and beat them too. We’ve raced the Opens at Pompano, Hazel Park and Woodbine and she’s beat them all.”
Burning Point will make her bid for a third straight victory, and her 14th in 17 starts, from Post 3 on Friday evening with regular reinsman Kevin Wallis at the lines. Unfortunately the filly is also not eligible to the Aug. 16 Fan Hanover Eliminations leaving her owners and trainer Linda Wallis with the same dilemma they faced in July, where to race until the Sept. 28 Gold at Mohawk.
“Right now we don’t have an exact schedule for her. We’ll see how she comes out of this race and go from there,” says Solomon, who makes his home in Coral Springs, FL. “We have to get her some races in between. If they put a three-year-old open or two together we’ll go in that, we don’t want to race her in the Open if we don’t have too.
“And if she’s good enough and stays sound we’ll probably put her in the Breeders Crown. She’s already beat the best filly in the country, Armbro Amoretto.”
Before Solomon and Novick make that decision Burning Point has to best the field of nine she will face on Friday, which includes the other elimination winner Rocket N Rollit from Post 10.
“She’s going into the race extremely sharp. She came up with a big effort last week and I was very happy with her,” says trainer-driver Rick Zeron of Oakville. “Unfortunately I drew the 10-hole, which is a real big hill to climb, but we’re going to take a shot and hopefully something will break for us that we can get her into the race early.”
Zeron trains Rocket N Rollit for his partner, and the filly’s breeder, Marmatt Farms of Woodlawn. Last Friday’s victory was the Pacific Rocket daughter’s fifth this season and lowered her personal best to 1:52.1.
Woodbine Racetrack’s first race goes postward at 7:40 pm and the three-year-old pacing fillies star in the fifth race on Friday’s program. Woodbine also plays host to the three-year-old pacing colts in Gold Final action this Saturday, Aug. 9 and the three-year-old trotting filly Gold Final on Monday, Aug. 11.