WINDSOR, ON — Racing young trotters is often compared to riding a roller coaster, and heading into Sunday’s $130,000 Gold Final at Windsor Raceway, trainer Frank O’Reilly is hoping three-year-old trotting filly Caught My Eye is headed for an uphill climb.

“Caught My Eye raced bad her last start,” says O’Reilly baldly. “Sure, she maybe wasn’t as tight as she could be, but she just didn’t race well.”

The Angus Hall daughter, the winner of the season opening Gold Final at Georgian Downs, finished fifth in last weekend’s elimination, nine and a half lengths behind track record setter Carolyn AS. It was the filly’s first start since Oct. 1 and she went into the race off a 1:59.2 win in an Oct. 15 qualifier at Mohawk Racetrack.

“Hopefully she’ll be a better filly this week,” says the Orton resident, who shares ownership on Caught My Eye with the Estate of John Ferguson of Windsor, and John and Jim Fielding of Toronto. “We’ve been working on her to get her better.”

Last weekend’s race was not the first roller coaster-like dip in Caught My Eye’s sophomore season. O’Reilly points out that she started off very slow and raced particularly bad in the June 15 Elegantimage Consolation, one start before she recorded her first victory in a Georgian Downs track record 1:56.4.

“She’s bounced back before,” he says optimistically. “At the first of the year it took her some starts to get good, before she went to Barrie. She raced horrible at Mohawk the week before she went and broke the track record at Barrie.”

One week after she broke the track record, Caught My Eye captured the Gold Final at Georgian Downs, and then posted third-place finishes in the elimination and final of the July Gold Series event at Mohawk, and a second and third in the elimination and final of the Canadian Breeders Championship.

At that point O’Reilly elected to give the filly a well deserved break, but in her first start back she was interfered with in an Aug. 30 Trillium Series division at Hiawatha Horse Park and went off stride. In the Sept. 24 Gold Elimination at Mohawk Racetrack she logged a fourth-place effort, and then finished well behind Ontario Sires Stakes record setter Brigham Dream in the 1:53.4 final.

Caught My Eye and regular reinsman Bill O’Donnell will start from Post 4 in Sunday’s Gold Final, and O’Reilly is hoping the work he has done this week and the improved post result in an improved result from the filly.

“She drew good, so hopefully she’ll get a little better trip and get a cheque,” he says. “I’m hoping she’ll come forward in these next two starts.”

After Sunday’s Gold Final, Caught My Eye and the other nine leading point earners from the regular season will begin preparations for the Nov. 10 Super Final at Woodbine Racetrack. With 137 points earned through her first seven Gold Series starts, Caught My Eye has already assured herself of a berth in the Super Final, and regardless of how she finishes out the season O’Reilly says the filly has also secured herself a place in her owners’ affections.

“She’s been a lot of fun to have,” he says of Caught My Eye, who has earned $412,464 in two seasons of racing. “She’s just a sweetheart. She doesn’t do anything wrong.”

The three-year-old trotting fillies will wrap up their regular season in Race 8 at Windsor Raceway on Sunday. Reigning Gold Final champion Brigham Dream will attempt to defend her title from Post 2, while track record holder Carolyn AS will make her bid for a second Gold Final trophy from Post 7 and the other elimination winner, Jtlady Strong, looks for her first Gold Final win from Post 8.

Windsor Raceway’s first race goes postward at 7 pm.

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