LONDON, ON — If the forecast for hot and humid weather holds through Friday evening, Western Fair Raceway fans could witness the kind of racing that people talk about for years.

“I still remember being at London and watching Lime Time win in 1:56.2 and thinking, �It will be a decade or two before this record is broken,'” recalls Dorchester resident John Pentland.

Last Friday Pentland trainee Jan’s Luck toured the half-mile oval in 1:55, briefly sharing the track record for three-year-old pacing fillies before it was shattered in the second Gold Elimination by her stablemate, pacesetter Luck Of Michelle, and winner Michelle’s Power, who hit the wire half a length apart in 1:54.

“Mike Saftic said — and we got beat, so we were looking for things to make us feel better,” he qualifies. “But he said, it’s one thing for these fillies to go in 1:54, however, that’s only one second away from the all age track record.”

This Friday the top four finishers from each of the Gold Eliminations will launch a second assault on Western Fair’s record books, along with the top eight finishers from three Molson Pace Eliminations, which featured an all age record equalling performance by Maltese Artist. The fillies square off in their $130,000 Gold Final in Race 7, while the aged pacers will battle for $255,000 worth of Molson Pace glory in Race 10.

Pentland’s Camluck daughters will roll up behind the starting gate with Jan’s Luck at Post 1 and Luck Of Michelle at Post 3, and the conditioner was pleased with the results of the draw.

“The post positions helped,” acknowledges Pentland. “They both had an easy week. They didn’t train.”

Pentland himself, however, did not have an easy week. The horseman spent the days following last Friday’s elimination round preparing for an Ontario Racing Commission appeal hearing regarding the placement of Jan’s Luck from first to sixth due to interference she caused to Michelleanas Angel prior to the start of the race.

After a thorough review, the ORC officials reversed the decision and restored Jan’s Luck to her original placing. The successful appeal meant the filly was back in the Gold Final, and landing Post 1 has even given her a slight edge over her stablemate in the eyes of Western Fair’s oddsmakers.

“I knew she should be in there; it was just a bad call,” asserts Pentland. “But I don’t really know if she’s worthy of being favoured over Michelle.”

Pentland’s confidence in Jan’s Luck is also tempered by the absence of Steve Condren from her race bike on Friday. Condren has driven the filly in all six of her 2007 starts, but was committed to another stakes engagement on Friday, so Mark MacDonald will pick up the reins behind Jan’s Luck for the first time.

“I’d feel good if I had someone who had driven her before but, given that that’s not an option, I’ve got the best guy you’re going to get,” says the trainer, whose wife Natalie Pentland of Dorchester shares ownership on Jan’s Luck with CJS Stables Inc. of London.

“Mike (Saftic) will share more with Mark about the problems with the filly, her quirks and that,” he adds.

Saftic will be in his usual position behind Luck Of Michelle on Friday, looking to best both Jan’s Luck and rival Michelle’s Power, who drew Post 5.

“She was pretty sharp last week,” says Pentland of Luck Of Michelle. “She might be stretched out a little more with a big start under her belt, but I don’t know if she’ll be able to pace any faster.”

The Ontario Sires Stakes champion and O’Brien Award winner as a two-year-old, Luck Of Michelle is owned by Karen Carroll of Shedden and Natalie Pentland.

Western Fair Raceway’s star-studded Friday evening program gets under way at 7:35 pm, with the Pentland fillies and their peers going postward in Race 7 and some of the top aged pacers in North American waging battle in Race 10.

For complete entries please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/elonfr.html#N7