CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — When Random Solution strides onto Mohawk Racetrack this Sunday, May 11, the three-year-old trotting filly will kick off the most eagerly anticipated Ontario Sires Stakes season in recent memory.

Harness racing fans have been buzzing about this year’s crop of three-year-olds since pacing colt Somebeachsomewhere set a world record in last summer’s Metro Pace. The hype continued to build throughout the season as Windsong Espoir trotted to a nine race win streak, pacing filly Chancey Lady delivered impressive late season performances, and trotting fillies Somebody To Love and Its My Time finished second and third in the Breeders Crown Final.

Although Random Solution’s best freshman finish against the province’s elite was a third behind Bella Dolce and Somebody To Love in the Robert Stewart Stakes, trainer Randy Fritz has confidence that the Angus Hall daughter will find her niche among the Gold Series competitors this season.

“She’s got a heck of a stride to her for a small mare — she’s just an average size,” says the Burlington resident. “I think she’ll fare out okay in there.”

The Angus Hall miss heads into her sophomore Gold Series debut off a third-place finish in overnight action at Grand River Raceway on Tuesday, May 6. The only three-year-old in a field dominated by aged horses, Random Solution finished two lengths behind the winner in the 2:01.3 mile at the Elora half-mile.

“She raced against the boys, it was a little stiff competition, but I wanted a race for her before the elimination,” explains Fritz. “I was thinking about racing her in the Grassroots, but she raced well last night (Tuesday).”

Random Solution emerged onto the sophomore scene in an April 25 qualifier at Flamboro Downs, touring that half-mile in 2:01. After a freshman campaign that stretched from a June 27 qualifier through a Nov. 23 Trillium Series event — where she scored a 2:00.2 victory — Fritz gave Random Solution an extended winter holiday before beginning preparations for the tough sophomore circuit.

“She ended up well last year,” recalls Fritz, who trains and drives Random Solution for his partners LGK Stables of Guelph and Daniel McCann of Parkhill. “Being as they raced until late November, I gave her more time than usual. It was a tough season, tough sledding for them.

“She had two months off, then she started back light jogging. I started training her down around the first of March,” he continues. “She’s come back pretty good, she’s held her weight pretty good.”

Fritz and his partners acquired the filly from the 2006 Forest City Yearling Sale for $18,000, and have seen a $41,015 return on their investment to date.

“She’s a sister to Battle Zone. Joel Falkenham had her (Battle Zone) and he got me to school her one day and I liked her,” says the horseman. “That’s one of the reasons why we bought her (Random Solution).

“She’s got a pretty big attitude, like most fillies,” he adds. “I like her, I like her chances.”

Random Solution will have her first opportunity to reward Fritz’s faith from Post 1 in the second race at Mohawk on Sunday. The filly faces off against six talented peers in the $40,000 Gold Elimination, the first of three on the Campbellville oval’s 7:30 pm program. The gifted Bella Dolce will look for a return to the form that earned her $321,797 as a freshman from Post 8 in the fourth race, while Breeders Crown runner-up Its My Time gets Post 8 in the sixth race.

The top three finishers from each elimination, plus one fourth-place finisher selected by random draw, will earn a return trip to Mohawk Racetrack on Sunday, May 18 for the first $120,000 Gold Final of the season. Sunday, May 18 also marks the return of the sophomore trotting colts to Ontario Sires Stakes action with their first Gold Eliminations.

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