WINDSOR, ON — Blue Alert and Ramblin Tina grew up together, train together and will be together on the trailer that takes them to Windsor Raceway on Wednesday evening for Gold Series Elimination action.
Both fillies will start from Post 4 in their eliminations and Dr. Reginald Westgarth hopes the pair can post a top two finish and advance to next week’s Gold Final.
“They’ll be tight, so whatever happens, happens,” says the Amherstburg resident, who shares ownership on the fillies with Gilda Poitras, his partner in Regil Investments. “They’re just a nice pair of fillies.”
Blue Alert heads into her elimination off a July 23 qualifier at Windsor Raceway where she posted a 16 length victory in 1:59. The Bo Knows Jate lass made her provincial debut in the season opening Gold Elimination at Woodbine Racetrack, but made a break at the three-quarter mark, a problem that also plagued her in a July 7 overnight at the Toronto oval.
“She got into a little equipment problem. We just had to get the kinks worked out,” explains Westgarth. “She qualified real good the other day. Donnie Rankin drove her and he said she was just a little short at the wire, but she hadn’t done much for a month.
“We’ll train her and Tina tomorrow (Sunday) with another horse and she’ll be tighter.”
Blue Alert and Rankin face a tough group of fillies in their quest for a top two finish in the sixth race, including reigning Gold Final winner Taylor Lynne from Post 3.
Ramblin Tina has been a solid player on the Gold Series circuit, posting two fourth-place finishes in elimination action and a fifth in the Woodbine Gold Final on July 7. The Rambaran daughter prepped for Wednesday night’s battle with a 1:57.4 victory at Windsor Raceway on July 23.
“Donnie said she was a little lazy going down the backstretch, but she finished well,” says the longtime Standardbred owner. “She’s kind of lazy and I thought she’d be good about September, but she’s proved to be a pleasant surprise.”
Ramblin Tina will face Bob McIntosh trainee Los Angeles from Post 2 in the ninth race, along with Carl Jamieson’s speedy filly Lucys Fame from Post 8.
Westgarth and Poitras acquired the fillies in the spring of 2002 from South Woodslee breeder Thomas Knight and have been impressed with the duo since their first lessons with trainer John Janes. In addition to solid pedigrees — Ramblin Tina is a daughter of $119,987 winner Im So Excited and a half-sister to horses like Abouttolosecontrol ($191,581), while Blue Alert’s half siblings include $273,153 winner Blue Mesa — they were quick catch on to the business of racing.
“They’re different personalities — Blue Alert is kind of a hyper type of mare, while the Ramblin Tina mare, nothing bothers her — but they’ve both been good from the time we broke them,” Westgarth says. “They’re good training horses, they both like the work.”
The Regil Investments fillies and their peers star in Races 3, 6, 7, and 9 on Windsor Raceway’s Wednesday evening program, which gets under way at 7:25 pm. Only the top two finishers from each elimination, plus one third-place finisher drawn by lot, will return to the five-eighths mile oval on Aug. 6 for a shot at the $130,000 Gold Final.