FRASERVILLE, ON — Ontario Sires Stakes action wraps up for the three-year-old pacing fillies this Thursday as they compete in a pair of Trillium Series divisions at Kawartha Downs.
Moonlight Affair will make her Trillium debut on Thursday and trainer Rocco Auciello hopes that last weekend’s victory at Georgian Downs is an indication that the D M Dilinger daughter is finally ready to live up to her potential.
“She finally won a race,” says the horseman, who trains Moonlight Affair for owner and breeder Robert Burgess of Cedar Valley. “She’s been struggling all year. I know she’s a better filly than she’s shown.”
Moonlight Affair and driver Kelvin Rose found their way to the winner’s circle for the first time in 17 starts last Saturday, Oct. 21, touring Georgian Downs’s five-eighths mile oval in 1:56.4. The pair got a pocket trip from Post 3 in the non-winners of $10,000 contest and Auciello would love to see a repeat performance from Post 3 in Thursday’s first Trillium division.
“Hopefully she’s kind of coming around,” says the Stouffville resident. “I’ve been battling allergies with her all summer, so maybe with the cooler weather coming she’ll put it all together.”
The winner of $30,302 made two starts in the Grassroots program early in the season before Auciello decided to concentrate on the overnight scene at Mohawk and Woodbine Racetracks. Competing in the fillies and mares maiden class, Moonlight Affair racked up six thirds before finally hitting the top spot last weekend.
“She’s pretty flawless. She’s never had problems with gait or soundness, basically just with breathing, as a lot of horses do,” notes Auciello. “Year after year it seems to get worse.”
Among the fillies that Moonlight Affair will face on Thursday are one Grassroots competitor, two American-breds and three Gold Series lasses, including $272,196 winner Even Now, who will start from Post 4.
The other $33,478 division will feature a showdown between Gold Series rivals Bold Bidder from Post 1, Draconian Promise from Post 5 and To Helen Back from Post 6. The runner up from the Oct. 7 Grassroots Championship, Prairie Tracker, will start from Post 3.
Post time at Kawartha Downs on Thursday evening is 7 pm, with the three-year-old pacing fillies primed for their last Trillium Series battle in Races 4 and 6. The Trillium Series is open to fillies bred in Canada or the United States who are owned by Ontario residents.
For complete entries please go to:
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/ekdfth.html