CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — Heading into Sunday’s Gold Elimination at Mohawk Racetrack, two-year-old trotting filly Maple Sugar has two wins under her belt, the most recent an impressive mile in a division of the Robert Stewart Memorial at the Campbellville oval last weekend.

Maple Sugar’s 1:58.4 victory was the fastest of the two Robert Stewart divisions, but it is not that mile which sticks out in trainer Susanne Kerwood’s mind when she reflects on the filly’s brief career. To Kerwood, Maple Sugar’s most notable outing to date was a 2:09 score in a Grassroots division at Hanover Raceway on July 19.

“To me, she was more impressive in Hanover,” says the Rockwood resident. “She made a break and spotted them 31 lengths at the quarter and then went three high around the last turn, and he (Ray McLean, Jr.) never really asked her to go, she did it all on her own.

“She trotted her last three-quarters in 1:29.4 at Hanover in her first start. I mean, that’s a pretty impressive mile.”

That effort earned Maple Sugar a Grassroots trophy and a trip to Rideau Carleton Raceway for the third Gold Series event. In the July 30 Gold Elimination the Malabar Maple lass finished a steady third, but she ran into problems in the Gold Final one week later and finished well back in eighth.

“Trevor Ritchie really liked her in the elimination. She was third, but he was just cautious with her. She is a little tricky to drive until she gets her feet under her,” notes Kerwood. “Trevor had Dan Creighton’s filly in the Final so I asked Bill O’Donnell to go up and drive her and unfortunately the track was a little cuppy and she made a break coming off the first turn.”

Chalking the break up to bad luck, Kerwood went ahead with her plan to enter the filly in the Robert Stewart Memorial and enlisted the services of Tony Kerwood for the Aug. 13 contest. Drawing in against former Gold Final winner Caught My Eye, she was not expecting a victory, but hoped the trip around the larger seven-eighths mile oval would put Maple Sugar back on track for the fourth Gold Series.

“The Robert Stewart was the only other stake she was eligible to other than the Sires Stakes, so we thought we’d give her a shot,” recalls Kerwood, who shares ownership on Maple Sugar with Enviro Stables Ltd. of New York, NY. “After that mile in Hanover I knew she had lots of talent. How fast she was at this point I wasn’t sure.”

Leaving from the rail, Tony Kerwood eased the filly off the gate into fourth and once she had collected herself he took aim on leader Caught My Eye. Maple Sugar responded with an impressive effort that saw her grab control of the race and then fight off Caught My Eye as the fan favourite tried to reclaim the lead. The pair battled through fractions of :29.3, 1:00.3 and 1:30.2 before Maple Sugar pulled away in the stretch to the 1:58.4 victory, chalking up a :28.2 last quarter in the process.

“She’s not really a surprise, she just keeps improving,” says Kerwood. “She was like that training down, you ask her for a little more and she gives it.

“She is a happy horse, she likes her work and that really helps because you can’t train that into one,” adds the horsewoman.

Maple Sugar and Tony Kerwood will start from Post 2 in the third of four $26,892 Gold Eliminations at Mohawk on Sunday and her trainer says there are no expectations weighing the young trotter down at this stage in her career.

“I don’t think it matters where she is behind the gate, you’ve just got to wait on her and when she’s ready to go, she’ll go,” says Kerwood. “There is no pressure on her, whatever she does, she does.”

The talented two-year-old trotting lasses will kick off Mohawk Racetrack’s program at 7 pm on Sunday, and will also battle in Races 3, 4, and 7. The top two finishers from each elimination, plus a pair of third-place finishers selected by random draw, will return to Campbellville on Sunday. Aug. 27 for their fourth shot at a Gold Final title.

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