WINDSOR, ON — If Honour Way can capture Sunday night’s $130,000 Gold Final at Windsor Raceway, Brad Gray will be one third of the way to breaking even on the highest priced racehorse ever sold in Canada.

Hammered down to the Dundas resident for $295,000 at the June 12 Spring Fling Sale in London, Honour Way made inroads on her purchase price with a runner-up finish in the June 17 Elegantimage Consolation and a 1:57.3 victory in her Gold Elimination last weekend, but a win on Sunday would be a significant credit on the balance sheet.

“You don’t often get a chance to buy one like that. You usually have to spend $100,000 on something that’s unproven. This one was well proven,” says the 41 year old owner. “And this one could make a couple hundred grand and you’ll break even because she’ll be worth $100,000 US next year as a broodmare.”

Honour Way’s worth had been demonstrated through a two-year-old season that saw the Angus Hall daughter put together a record of three wins, three seconds and two thirds for earnings of $253,723. Prior to the June 12 sale the filly had amassed two wins in three starts and $47,500. Those stats were appealing to Gray, who made the jump from claimers to stakes horses two years ago after changes were made to the claiming rules.

“I’m sort of a rookie,” says Gray, whose involvement in the sport began in 2002. “I claimed 20 some horses the first year and then they changed the rule to moving them up 20 per cent (following each claim) and I wasn’t too keen on that so I’ve switched to the young ones now.

“I seem to do all right. You lose on a few and gain on a few.”

Gray would love to see Honour Way come out on the up side, starting with a victory from Post 7 in Sunday’s tenth race. Jody Jamieson will return to the race bike, making his second start aboard the talented young trotter since she moved into his father Carl Jamieson’s Princeton barn.

“I haven’t seen her since I bought her,” admits Gray. “I plan on going out there before the race, but he (Jamieson) knows what he’s doing, I don’t have to baby-sit him.”

Gray does plan on making the trip to Windsor on Sunday to watch his high priced protege in action. Among the fillies Honour Way will have to best before Gray can lay claim to a Gold Final trophy are the reigning Gold Final champion Erotica, who will be hampered by Post 8, and last week’s fan favourite Merry Rules, who gets Post 3.

Local fillies Dream On Bernie and Heartful Image will start from Posts 4 and 9. Janet Fairall of Windsor bred and co-owns Dream On Bernie with trainer George Zirnis of Elmira, Nancy Holmes of Clinton and Tanya Martin of Elmira. Heartful Image is owned by trainer Bob McIntosh of LaSalle and his partners CSX Stables of Liberty Center, OH and Irving Liverman of Hampstead, QC.

The talented three-year-old trotting fillies square off in Race 10 on Windsor Raceway’s Sunday evening program, which gets under way at 6 pm.

For a complete list of entries please go to:

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