CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — Heading into last week’s elimination round, Ashley And Gloria’s connections figured they were taking one shot at the Gold Series before heading back down to the Grassroots program. However, a 1:55.1 elimination win and a berth in Monday night’s $130,000 Gold Final at Mohawk Racetrack have caused a dramatic shift in the group’s perceptions.
“Malcolm (MacPhail) said let’s put her in that Sires Stake. We might as well give her one shot over the big track,” recalls Bob Young, who trains the three-year-old pacing filly for Malcolm and Robert MacPhail of Dover Centre, Diana Brohman of Kitchener and Richard Renwick of Merlin. “She’s kind of been a surprise.”
Heading into the elimination off a 1:53.3 win in a non-winners of two races contest on June 9, Young thought maybe Ashley And Gloria could earn a share of the Ontario Sires Stakes purse, but when the skies opened last Monday he worried that the sloppy track conditions might exact a price in the filly’s second race in four days. And at the three-quarter pole, with Ashley And Gloria and driver Roger Mayotte sitting five lengths off the pace, Young did not think a return engagement to the Gold Series was in the filly’s immediate future.
“On the Thursday (June 9) she went a real big trip, she paced home in :26.4, but it wasn’t a great night Monday and you don’t know if a filly will come back in four days,” notes the Guelph resident. “At one point in the race I thought we might be fifth, and turning for home I thought we might be third, but halfway down the lane she clicked into gear again.”
A :28.1 last quarter secured the elimination spoils for Ashley And Gloria, and Young hopes the Fit For Life daughter can use similar come-from-behind tactics in Monday night’s Gold Final when she and Mayotte will start from Post 8.
“She drew the eight which, to me, is fine. She’ll be third or fourth over and should be able to get money if everything goes well. She’s always pacing strong at the end,” says the veteran horseman. “Andy Hardy’s filly (Lady D M) is a real nice filly, she’s another one that goes right to the wire, and if things work out we’ll be following her.”
Reigning Gold Final winner Lady D M will start from Ashley And Gloria’s left at Post 7, while the other elimination winners Tattootina and Serenity Seelster get Posts 2 and 9 in a race Young expects to be very competitive.
“There’s no standout, nobody is going to go out and win by three or four lengths,” he explains. “This year this group is more evenly matched.”
The highly competitive sophomore pacing fillies will flex their muscles in Race 5 on Monday, the opening night of Mohawk Racetrack’s summer meet. The Campbellville oval’s first race will roar past the grandstand at 7:20 pm.