WINDSOR, ON — Windsor Raceway fans are gearing up for another outstanding weekend of Ontario Sires Stakes action, beginning with a $130,000 Gold Final for the three-year-old pacing fillies on Saturday.
After dominating the elimination round Bob McIntosh trainees Please Me Please and Remember When have drawn opposite sides of the starting gate, but the La Salle resident is confident both fillies are poised to deliver another impressive effort.
With regular reinsman Mike Saftic back in the race bike, Please Me Please will start from Post 1 in the ninth race and heads into the rich Final off a career best 1:52.3 mile over a track rated one second slower than normal.
“I was very impressed with that mile. It wasn’t a very nice night and when the teletimer flashed 1:52.3 I was very impressed,” says the La Salle resident. “It was a tough trip. She had to muscle it out in the third quarter and then hold off the field.”
In spite of the tough trip McIntosh says the filly’s day to day routine will not change this week in preparation for the Gold Final.
“We’re into the rhythm with her so everything stays the same,” says the trainer, who also bred and owns the winner of $595,397 in partnership with Al McIntosh Holdings Inc. of Leamington and Dwight Stacey of Mitchell. “And hopefully she stays the same.”
If Please Me Please continues to perform at the level she has been during the last eight weeks, the Camluck filly may earn a ticket into the Breeders Crown eliminations at The Meadowlands on Nov. 22. The World Series of harness racing, the Breeders Crown will feature the best horses from across North America in the Nov. 29 US$500,000 Final.
Remember When has already earned her ticket into the lucrative championship by virtue of a $601,770 winning season that has seen her butt heads against North America’s best week in and week out. Surprisingly, last week marked the filly’s debut in the Ontario Sires Stakes program, but she wasted no time establishing herself as a threat in Saturday’s Final and the Nov. 8 Super Final.
“She got a cozy trip last week, but she’s a great filly,” says McIntosh. “She’s raced against the best fillies all her life.”
Last week the Camluck miss and driver Trevor Ritchie enjoyed a pocket trip behind division leader Burning Point, stepping out in the stretch to score the 1:53.3 victory by a nose. With Post 8 in the Final McIntosh does not expect things to be so easy this week, but the veteran trainer still expects a top performance from the blue-blooded filly, who is destined to carry on her grand dams legacy in the Brittany Farms breeding program at the conclusion of her racing career.
“She is out of the only daughter they’ve got of Leah Almahurst ($1,053,021),” says McIntosh, who has trained numerous winners for the Versailles, KY operation. “They want to keep that family alive.”
Both fillies will get a run for their money from Burning Point, who will start from Post 9 in her quest for a third Gold Final win, and Jasper Avenue, who would like to add a second $130,000 victory to her resume from Post 2.
Windsor Raceway fans will be treated to the exciting sophomore pacing filly showdown in Race 9 on Saturday, with the first race heading in behind the starting gate at 7:25 pm. The five-eighths mile oval wraps up its 2003 Ontario Sires Stakes program with a $130,00 Gold Final for the fast two-year-old pacing colts on Sunday evening.