CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — She was impressive in her Gold Elimination win last weekend, and ranks among the favourites in this Sunday’s $120,000 Gold Final at Mohawk Racetrack, but trainer Kevin O’Reilly admits that last season Feels Like Magic was a bit of a klutz.

“She was just clumsy, there’s no other way to say it,” explains the Moffat, ON resident. “She was too fast for her body, and she would get tangled up in herself. She doesn’t do that this year, because she’s that much stronger.”

Feels Like Magic demonstrated both her strength and her speed in last weekend’s elimination, laying down a :27.2 final quarter to claim a half length victory over Bella Dolce and pacesetter Duchessofnorthyork. More than nine lengths off the pace in the early stages of the mile, Feels Like Magic and driver Bill O’Donnell employed a come from behind strategy that saw them stalk Bella Dolce on the outside before bursting past the leaders in the stretch.

“She can go fast that one,” notes O’Reilly, who trains the filly for the Feels Like Magic Stable of Rockwood, ON. “She could always go fast, she just needed to get a little stronger and grow up a bit.”

O’Reilly prepped Feels Like Magic for her sophomore stakes debut with an outing in a non-winners of two contest at Mohawk on May 1. The daughter of Kadabra and Doyenne started from Post 1 and cruised to a runner-up finish in the 1:59.3 mile, and O’Reilly says she was well within herself.

The race was the filly’s first start since a Sept. 29 Gold Final where she made a miscue in the middle of the race and finished ninth. O’Reilly and the partners in the Feels Like Magic Stable — Tine Nielsen of Moffat, Dr. Dan McMaster of Rockwood and Dr. David Powell of Campbellville, ON — had never intended to push the filly hard in her freshman campaign and figured the error was their cue to quit.

“As soon as she made a mistake we put her away,” recalls O’Reilly. “We put her in the paddock for three months and let her grow up a bit. I brought her back about the second week of January.”

With one elimination down, the conservative strategy seems to have paid off, and Feels Like Magic will have another opportunity to reward her connections for their patience in Sunday’s eighth race. O’Donnell will send the filly after the lion’s share of the $120,000 purse from Post 1, while the other two elimination winners, Somebody To Love and Its My Time, get Posts 4 and 9.

Ten fillies who missed the top three in last week’s elimination round will compete in the $20,000 Gold Consolation in Race 4.

Also on the program at Mohawk on Sunday evening are a pair of Gold Eliminations for the three-year-old trotting colts, with four of last season’s top five money earners geared up to renew their rivalry.

Last season’s number two colt Pizzazzed, owned by Fox Valley Standardbreds of Sherman, IL, will start from Post 9 in the first $40,000 elimination, with Sergeant York lining up in the second tier at Post 11 for Tony Holmes and Walter Zent of Lexington, KY. B Strike Three gets Post 4 in the second split for Ben Robards III of Shepherdsville, KY, with O U Gus lining up to his right from Post 7 for breeder Glengate Farms and trainer Jerry Duford of Campbellville, ON.

Local colt O U Gus heads into Sunday’s skirmish off a pair of solid victories in overnight action at Mohawk Racetrack. The Angus Hall son and driver Bill O’Donnell were 1:58.2 winners on May 1 and scored a narrow 1:57 victory on May 9.

All four colts are looking forward to getting the jump on rival Windsong Espoir, who went undefeated in his freshman Ontario Sires Stakes campaign, but has yet to make his sophomore debut.

Post time for Sunday’s on track program is 6:30 pm, but the trackside action gets under way at 5:30 pm with face painting, pony rides, petting zoo and other fun-filled activities for the kids. The trotting colts are featured in Races 2 and 5, the three-year-old trotting filly Gold Consolation goes postward as Race 4 and the Gold Finalists will battle for $120,000 in Race 8. Following the live racing program, fans will be treated to Mohawk’s spectacular fireworks display.

For complete entries please go to: http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/emohssu.html