REXDALE, ON — Monday’s Gold Eliminations at Woodbine Racetrack featured a dose of the expected and the unanticipated as heavy favourite Lady Dillinger cruised to a two length victory in the first $58,909 contest and KG Delight scored a mild upset in the second.

Woodbine Racetrack fans placed their unwavering faith in Lady Dillinger, and the two-time Gold Final winner delivered the goods with a 1:54.2 mile over a track rated one second slower than normal. With Mike Saftic in the race bike, Lady Dillinger eased away from Post 6 and landed fourth on the rail. Saftic was content to sit in mid-pack through fractions of :26.3 and :55.4 laid down by Armbro Cachet, but had the filly moving on the outside well before the 1:25.3 three-quarters. At the top of the stretch the pair appeared to have the race well in hand and they sailed down the stretch unchallenged to the two length victory.

Serenity Seelster, owned by Garth Bechtel of Caledon Village, Glenn Bechtel of Kingston and trainer John MacMillan of Spencerville, delivered a come-from-behind effort to nail down the runner-up spot, while Ashley And Gloria was three-quarters of a length behind her in third. Fourth and fifth-place finishers Iseerightthrough U and Azrael also advanced to the $130,000 Gold Final from the first elimination.

Waterdown resident Gaetan Hebert owns and trains Lady Dillinger, who has crafted an impressive sophomore season, posting seven wins, one second and three thirds in 16 starts and banking $397,737. The D M Dilinger daughter vaulted over rival Lady D M to take top spot in the division standings with a total of 224 points and she will make her bid for a few more from Post 9 in next week’s Gold Final.

Two races later the track had been downgraded to sloppy and two seconds slower than normal, but that did not seem to impact KG Delight as she delivered a :27.3 last quarter to claim her first Gold Series victory.

Leaving from Post 4, trainer Doug Brown allowed the filly to float down into sixth and watched as fan favourite Northern Diligence took the field through fractions of :27, :56.3 and 1:25.1. Heading for the three-quarter mile marker Brown sent KG Delight up the outside behind Lucks Mistress and Lady D M and was just two and three-quarter lengths behind the leader as they turned for home. The impressive finishing kick propelled the filly down the stretch to claim the two length victory over Lady D M and Northern Diligence in a smart 1:53.3.

Dream Island and Trace Of Luck also advanced to the Oct. 31 Gold Final.

Owned by breeders Gordon and Karin Bryan of Calgary, AB, KG Delight boosted her record to four wins and three seconds with Monday’s triumph and peeled four full seconds off her personal best in the process.

The Northern Luck daughter was a winner in the Grassroots program in July, but had only accumulated 16 points in the Gold Series through her first two outings. Monday’s victory catapulted the winner of $92,926 from nineteenth to seventh spot in the division standings, which should be enough for a berth in the season ending $300,000 Super Final at Woodbine Racetrack on Nov. 12.

KG Delight will make her bid for a Gold Final trophy on Halloween Monday from Post 4, while her peers line up as follows:

Post 1 Azrael

Post 2 Lady D M

Post 3 Ashley And Gloria

Post 4 KG Delight

Post 5 Trace Of Luck

Post 6 Iseerightthrough U

Post 7 Serenity Seelster

Post 8 Northern Diligence

Post 9 Lady Dillinger

Post 10 Dream Island

AE1 Tattootina

AE2 Lucks Mistress

AE3 Armbro Cashmere

For complete results please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rwdbsmo.html