CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — Heading into Friday’s Gold Eliminations at Mohawk Racetrack off a pair of impressive victories at Georgian Downs, Frank O’Reilly is confident his three-year-old trotting filly Caught My Eye has got her groove back.

“She just took a while to get into the groove,” says the trainer. “When she headed to Barrie, I knew she was really good, she was bang on. It’s just too bad she couldn’t have been in the groove for the Elegantimage.”

The number three filly on the Gold Series circuit last season, Caught My Eye started her sophomore campaign against some of North America’s top young trotters. She finished fourth in her June 1 Casual Breeze division at Mohawk, fifth in her June 8 Elegantimage elimination, and then made a break and finished eighth in the Elegantimage Consolation.

With those three starts under her belt, the Angus Hall miss headed north to Innisfil for the Gold Series season opener and reeled off a track record 1:56.4 mile in her June 23 elimination. Back at Georgian Downs for the $130,000 Gold Final last Saturday, Caught My Eye endured what O’Reilly calls a brutal trip around the outside and still trotted under the wire a half length winner in 1:57.1.

“She was tired the next day, but she never missed a meal,” reports the Orton resident. “She’s had three days off, she’ll jog for two days and go back to the races.”

Caught My Eye and Hall of Fame horseman Bill O’Donnell, who engineered both Georgian Downs victories, will be looking for win number three from Post 2 in the third $39,963 Gold Elimination on Friday.

“Having her is just having a gift,” says O’Reilly. “I didn’t make her good, I’ve just managed not to ruin her thus far. She’s a beautiful filly.

“The day I was really lucky was when I put my hand on her halter and brought her home from the sale,” continues the horseman, who purchased the $55,000 yearling with partners John Fielding of Toronto and John Ferguson of Windsor.

Shadowing O’Reilly and Fielding’s joy over Caught My Eye’s return to the winner’s circle is their concern for Ferguson, who is in the final stages of a two-year long battle with cancer.

“It’s too bad that Fergie’s not doing well,” laments O’Reilly. “It’s tough to lose a friend.”

When Caught My Eye steps onto the track at Mohawk on Friday, O’Reilly and Fielding will be just two of the many people reflecting on the joy that Ferguson brought to the world of harness racing, and wishing him and his family all the best.

Post time for the Campbellville oval’s Friday evening program is 7:20 pm and the three-year-old trotting fillies will be featured in Races 3, 5, and 7. The top three finishers from each elimination, plus one fourth-place finisher selected by random draw, will return to Mohawk on Friday, July 13 for their second $130,000 Gold Final.

For complete entries please go to:

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