WINDSOR, ON — This Sunday Windsor Raceway plays host to some of the most talented horses racing in Ontario as the top nine two-year-old pacing fillies return to the five-eighths mile oval for their $130,000 Gold Final and 16 talented three-year-old pacing colts gather for a pair of $57,552 Gold Eliminations.

In the Gold Final Canadette will be looking for her second straight victory from Post 3 and trainer Gregg McNair says the filly weathered this week’s heat wave and should be on her game Sunday.

“She was fine,” says McNair, who trains the filly for owner and breeder Robert Chapple of Chatham. “We didn’t do too much with her, just jogged her a little bit.”

Canadette captured her elimination last weekend with an impressive effort that saw her swing up the outside before pulling away to a two length victory in a track record 1:53. The mile eclipsed the former 1:53.3 record held by a trio of Ontario Sires Stakes superstars — Odies Fame, Precious Delight and Lady Dillinger.

Driver Paul MacDonell also used a come from behind strategy to land Canadette the runner-up’s share of the July 24 Gold Final at Mohawk Racetrack, but McNair says the filly does have the ability to hustle away from the starting gate.

“She’ll race any way you want her to,” says the Guelph resident. “I don’t know what Paul will do with her Sunday. I don’t think he’ll be cutting it out with her, but that will be up to him.”

The daughter of Mach Three and former Ontario Sires Stakes sweetheart Legacy Of Fame, Canadette has impressed McNair from the beginning. Through six starts this season she has accumulated two Gold Elimination wins, a victory in a division of the Flamboro Breeders Stake, and runner-up finishes in a Gold Elimination and a Gold Final. Her only off the board finish came in the July 10 Gold Final at Grand River Raceway where she made an uncharacteristic break and finished eighth.

“She’s a good big filly, a good gaited mare,” says McNair, who also trained Legacy Of Fame. “We had a little trouble with her breathing at Grand River, probably both nights, but she’s good right now.”

Accompanying Canadette to Windsor on Sunday is McNair’s three-year-old pacing colt Eagle Luck, who will start from Post 8 in the first Gold Elimination. The Camluck colt heads into the season’s third Gold Series off a pair of impressive miles over Mohawk’s seven-eighths mile in the Canadian Breeders Championship elimination and Final. He captured his July 22 elimination and then finished second in the Final, hitting the wire in 1:49.4.

“I’d like to have a better post position, but I guess that’s what we got,” says McNair, who trains the colt for Frank Dettore of North Ridgeville, OH. “Windsor should be to his liking too, as long as the trip works out. He seems to race better up near the front end.”

Through 11 starts this season Eagle Luck boasts a record of five wins, one second and one third. He currently sits fourth in the Gold Series point race with 66 points earned through a Gold Elimination win in the May 19 season opener at Western Fair Raceway, a fourth in the May 26 Gold Final and a fourth in the elimination round at Rideau Carleton Raceway on July 6. The young pacer posted his 1:50 personal best capturing the Clearwater Cup Final at Hiawatha Horse Park on June 24.

“He’s been in good shape all year,” notes McNair. “And I don’t think a big track steps him a lot. He gets around a half pretty good. He’s a handy horse.”

Eagle Luck and driver Allan Cullen, who engineered the colt’s Gold Elimination and Clearwater Cup victories, will need a top four finish on Sunday to earn a return ticket to Windsor Raceway for the Aug. 13 Gold Final. Among the colts they face in Race 7 are Western Canada Pacing Derby winner Hyperion Hanover from Post 1, Summertime Series winner Mr Feelgood from Post 4 and July 6 Gold Elimination winner Windsong Cruiser from Post 6.

Post time for Windsor Raceway’s high powered Sunday evening program is 7 pm. The two-year-old pacing fillies compete for Gold Final honours in Race 8, flanked by the sophomore pacing colt Gold Eliminations in Races 7 and 9. The top four colts, plus one fifth-place finisher drawn by lot, will return to Windsor on Sunday, Aug. 13 for their third $130,000 Gold Final.

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