REXDALE, ON — With ten of Ontario’s most talented three-year-old pacing fillies returning to Woodbine Racetrack on Monday evening, the 1:50.3 track record set by last season’s Ontario Sires Stakes star Burning Point will be under attack for a second straight week.
Last Monday Special Magic logged the fastest mile of three Gold Series eliminations, halting the Woodbine teletimer at 1:51.3. The Bob McIntosh trainee was making her first start of the season in the provincial program and delivered a gritty effort to earn the narrow victory.
“I think she made about three moves in the mile. She raced really tough,” says McIntosh. “She had every right to finish second or even third, but she fought hard. She showed a lot of heart in only her third start of the year.”
Special Magic captured four of 15 starts as a two-year-old, including the Canadian Breeders’ Championship Final, and earned $280,466 for owner and breeder Brittany Farms of Versailles, KY. After her long freshman campaign the daughter of Camluck and $533,784 winner Art In The Park enjoyed a winter holiday in Kentucky, returning to McIntosh’s La Salle farm in late January.
“She’s never had a bad day coming back,” says McIntosh. “She was a big filly last year, so she didn’t get a lot bigger, but she put on a lot of muscle. She’s really come back strong and a lot more mature.”
Steve Condren will pilot Special Magic from Post 7 in Monday’s $130,000 Gold Final, looking for a third straight victory for the talented young pacer. Condren and McIntosh also qualified On This Day for the lucrative Final. Another daughter of Camluck, On This Day finished third in her elimination behind Double The Fun and Double Creme and will start from Post 1 on Monday with Randy Waples in the race bike.
“I didn’t know what to expect from her. She was outside (Post 8) and it was her first time with the really good fillies, so I was extremely pleased,” says the veteran conditioner. “After it was all done I had a big smile on my face. She was really mowing them down in the stretch.”
On This Day, owned by McIntosh, John Fielding of Toronto and CSX Stables of Liberty Center, OH, did not race as a two-year-old due to an injury. This season she boasts a record of two wins, three seconds and two thirds in seven starts for earnings of $21,781. In her Gold Series debut at Western Fair Raceway on May 22 she finished second in the fastest elimination, but was not one of the three runner-ups selected to return for the Final.
“She raced well enough to make the Final at London, but didn’t get the luck of the draw,” says McIntosh. “If she can trip out on Monday, if there is some front end speed, she should be all right. I think she has one good run in her.”
The other elimination winners, Double The Fun and Manhattan Killean, will start from Posts 4 and 9 in Monday’s fifth race, which will be shown live on The Score. Woodbine Racetrack’s first race goes behind the gate at 7:40 pm.