GLOUCESTER, ON — With just three days to go before the three-year-old trotting filly Gold Final at Rideau Carleton Raceway, trainer John Bax is invoking every good luck charm he can think off.
Bax was forced to scratch three of his two-year-olds from competition on the weekend due to sickness and he is hoping that last week’s Gold Elimination winner Pepi Lavec and runner-up Natashas Kiss are immune to whatever bug is making the rounds in his Peterborough barn.
“I’m just hoping they don’t get sick. I’ve got the virus in the barn from the yearlings,” says Bax. “They were good this morning (Monday) so I’m just hoping they stay good.”
If the duo avoid the lurking germs and are able to make the trip to Rideau Carleton Raceway on Thursday, Pepi Lavec will be looking for her third straight Gold Final title and her seventh consecutive Gold Series win from Post 4 in the seventh race. Natashas Kiss will be firing off the starting gate from Post 6.
Paul MacDonell will make the trip to Ottawa to pilot Pepi Lavec for Bax and his partners Glengate Farms of Campbellville and the trainer expects to see the Mr Lavec filly close to the front again this week. In last week’s elimination she controlled the pace from gate-to-wire to post an effortless four length 1:59 victory.
“Last week everything worked out pretty good. There was no flow in the race and she was on the front end so she got an easy half (:59.2),” says Bax. “She can race either way, but I expect that she’ll be near the front again this week.”
Natashas Kiss will be piloted for the third start by Jason Gale and Bax says the young Windsor resident has a variety of options with the Balanced Image lass.
“She can leave pretty good, but I don’t know if she’ll control the race or not. Early Secret is on the inside (Post 2) and I expect she’ll have a little more to say this week. She got a bad trip last week (from Post 9),” says Bax, who is attending the Harrisburg, PA yearling sale this week.
“Natashas Kiss has always been a step behind those two fillies (Pepi Lavec and Early Secret). Any other year she’d be an awful nice filly, but this year she’s just a pretty nice filly.”
Among the other six fillies that Bax’s duo will face is Terra Cotta Bye, who delivered a steady effort in the Gold Elimination to finish seventh and will start from Post 7 on Thursday night. Robert Robinson of Hull, QC trains and drives the Mr Lavec daughter for his partners Louis Lecuyer of Ottawa and Jacqueline Dinelle of Hull.
Rideau Carleton Raceway sends its first race into the starter’s hands at 6:30 pm on Thursday and the three-year-old trotting fillies will compete in the last Gold Final of their careers in Race 7. After wrapping up their regular season the top 10 point earners will head to Mohawk Racetrack on Nov. 16 where they will conclude their Ontario Sires Stakes career in the $300,000 Super Final.