WOODSTOCK, ON — Ontario’s talented three-year-old trotting fillies make the second last Grassroots appearance of their careers this Saturday afternoon at Woodstock Raceway, and trainer Norman Campbell is hoping Don Wan Misy is heading into the late season event in peak condition.

“We just had her operated on, this will be her first race since Georgian Downs (Aug. 14),” explains the Thamesford resident. “She wasn’t getting all her air, so hopefully it helps her.”

After her operation at the London Equine Hospital, Don Wan Misy spent the last two weeks of August recovering and enjoying a well deserved vacation. Campbell resumed the filly’s training schedule in early September and has been pleased with the way she has progressed over the last two weeks.

“She’s only been training for two weeks now, but she’s been training good,” says the veteran horseman, who bred and raised the Berndt Hanover daughter.

A second generation product of Campbell’s breeding program, Don Wan Misy has been a steady player on the Grassroots circuit this season, recording one win, two seconds and one fourth in four starts. She posted her 2:01.3 personal best in the June 9 Grassroots event at Hanover Raceway, where she trounced the field by a hearty seven lengths.

“She’s been pretty solid. She’s pretty honest,” says Campbell. “Her mother (Pollyanna) was too, and she’s gaited just like her mother.

“Her grandmother (Kawartha Goddess) used to hold the track record at Greenwood. She’s 24 years old, so 21 years ago she went over Greenwood in 1:58.2 and broke the track record by two seconds,” he adds.

Don Wan Misy and driver Brad Forward will start from Post 4 in the fifth race at Woodstock on Saturday, and Campbell is hopeful that the pair can improve on the fourth-place finish they earned at Georgian Downs on Aug. 14. The mid-field post should suit the leggy filly and Forward will be stepping into her race bike with more confidence this week.

“Brad drove her in Georgian Downs and when he got off the bike he said, �Oh cripes, I should have pulled her first over. She would have been right there,'” recalls Campbell. “It was the first time he drove her and I think he was driving her a little cautious.”

Saturday’s outing will be Don Wan Misy’s second tour around the Woodstock oval this season. On July 28 she finished third from the trailing Post 8 in a non-winners of two races event, trotting her own mile in 2:01.4. Campbell was pleased with the way she handled the track and expects the same sort of performance this week.

“She’s been over that track before. She trotted in 2:01 and a bit over there before and seemed to handle it okay,” he says. “But with trotting fillies, you never know what they are going to do. You’re usually on your toes until they get out of that gate.

“At least at Woodstock, if you don’t get no money, you don’t have to grieve as long riding home,” he adds with a wry chuckle.

To earn her fifth Grassroots cheque of the season, Don Wan Misy will have to best a tough field that includes former Grassroots winners Lady Mae C Fert and Betty Rose from Posts 1 and 8, as well as Gold Elimination and Trillium Series winner Tymal Timeout from Post 6.

Post time for Woodstock Raceway’s Saturday matinee is 1 pm, with the three-year-old trotting fillies battling to extend their Ontario Sires Stakes season in Races 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10.

For complete entries please go to:

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