DUNDAS, ON — Flamboro Downs will be the proving ground for 25 two-year-old pacing fillies on Thursday evening as the Dundas oval hosts a trio of Gold Series Eliminations.

Carl Jamieson will harness three fillies in the $113,549 event and the veteran trainer hopes the group lives up to their advance billing.

“I’ve got three very nice fillies in to go at Flamboro,” says Jamieson, who sends out Armbro Dandelion from Post 1 in Race 4, Laura Mae from Post 8 in Race 6 and Don’t You Smile from Post 5 in the ninth race. “I thought I’d give them all a shot in the Gold, but we’ll know more about them after we race them once.

“Sometimes the worst training one will be the best one, and the better training ones don’t have the stamina or whatever.”

While Jamieson has been confident that Laura Mae and Don’t You Smile were Gold calibre fillies since their early lessons last fall, Armbro Dandelion did not earn a berth in Thursday’s event until a smart June 11 qualifying victory that saw her stop the Mohawk Racetrack teletimer in 1:59.2.

“Laura Mae and Don’t You Smile were class horses from Day 1, but the other one wasn’t as competitive,” recalls the Princeton resident. “She was more at the back tier, but she qualified good. She’s come along quite a bit since then.”

Glendon Smith of Truro, NS owns Armbro Dandelion, a daughter of Camluck and Trivet Hanover who was a $22,000 yearling acquisition at last fall’s Forest City Yearling Sale. The leggy filly has a license to be successful on the racetrack, Trivet Hanover is a half-sister to the mother of $4 million winner Eternal Camnation.

While stablemate Laura Mae’s pedigree does not contain any million dollar relatives, the daughter of Camluck and Sign Of Joy has impressed Jamieson since the first day he put a harness on her.

“She has been real gritty right from the start. She just loves to do her job, and that’s key in this business, if you can get one that wants to do it,” explains the trainer. “They have to like their work, and that’s not something you can see when you’re buying them.”

Jamieson purchased Laura Mae for $45,000 at the Forest City Yearling Sale and then sold shares in her to George Arthur Stable of Milton, Fred Brayford of Alliston and Dr. Robert Boyce of London.

“When we bought the Camluck filly (Laura Mae), her name was Cambrasjoy, but Fred Brayford wanted to change her name to Laura Mae for his granddaughter,” adds Jamieson.

The filly, who will be handicapped by the outside post eight on Thursday, heads into the Gold Elimination battle off a 2:00.1 qualifying win at Mohawk on June 18.

Don’t You Smile was the only member of the Jamieson entry who did not capture her qualifier, finishing second by half a length in a 1:59 mile at Mohawk on June 18. However, like Laura Mae, the Grinfromeartoear daughter has been impressing Jamieson and his partners Arthur, Brayford and Thomas Kyron of Etobicoke since her first lessons.

“She’s very correct and very gritty,” notes the trainer. “She likes to do her job too.”

A $70,000 Forest City Yearling Sale purchase, Don’t You Smile is the fourth foal from 100 per cent producer Jates Strait, who is a full sister to $866,999 winner Safely Kept.

Jamieson’s son Jody, who recently returned from the World Driving Championship in Italy, will pilot all three fillies on Thursday and will be looking for a top three finish to advance them to the July 7 $130,000 Gold Final.

Post time for Flamboro Downs’ Thursday afternoon program is 2:45 pm, with the two-year-old pacing fillies eager to make their Ontario Sires Stakes debut in Races 4, 6, and 9.

For complete entries go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/eflmdth.html