INNISFIL, ON — For the second straight week, Ontario’s gifted two-year-old trotting fillies have laid waste to a track record at Georgian Downs.
Battling in their first $130,000 Gold Final, the young trotters delivered another outstanding performance that saw the top three finishers hit the wire faster than the 1:59 track record Torch set last Tuesday winning her Gold Elimination.
Leaving from Post 3, elimination winner Dornello and driver Trevor Ritchie went straight to the front, reaching the opening quarter in :28.4. The pair maintained a one and one-quarter length lead as they progressed through a 1:00.1 half and 1:29.3 three-quarters, and then kicked into high gear for the stretch battle.
Torch and Windsun Magical, who finished first and second in the record setting elimination last week, did their best to reel in the pacesetters, but a :28.4 last quarter propelled Dornello to a 1:58.2 victory and a new track record. Windsun Magical finished a length and a half back in second, while Torch settled for third after a tough trip around the outside from Post 9.
Dave Tingley trains Dornello for Barbara and Joseph Myers’ Goin My Way Stable of Holland, PA. Neither trainer nor owners are strangers to the Ontario Sires Stakes winner’s circle, having campaigned the great Peaceful Way to division titles in 2003 and 2004. The trio acquired Dornello, a daughter of Angus Hall and $743,350 winner Me Maggie, from last fall’s Lexington Select Yearling Sale for $75,000 US and the filly has already returned $79,306 in just two starts.
Only eight fillies went to the post in Tuesday’s Gold Final, as elimination winner Beyond Limits and runner-up Emerald Island, along with first also eligible Curious Bean, were scratched due to sickness. Tymal Mystique drew in off the also eligible list and took full advantage of the opportunity, finishing five lengths behind Dornello in fourth-place.
Dornello and her gifted peers will make their second appearance on the Ontario Sires Stakes stage on July 31 at Kawartha Downs. Georgian Downs fans will have an opportunity to catch the three-year-old trotting fillies in provincial action on Tuesday, Aug. 14 when they compete in their fourth Grassroots event.
For complete results please go to:
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rgeodftu.html#N9