CLINTON, ON — Two-year-old trotting filly Marclif Victoria makes her hometown debut in Grassroots wild card action at Clinton Raceway on Sunday.
The Brylin Boyz filly, bred and owned by trainer Franklin MacDonald of Clinton and Clifton Walsh of Wingham, has tallied one win, one second and one third in Grassroots action for a total of 87 points and sole ownership of third-place in the division standings. She heads into Sunday’s contest off a 2:05.3 victory in a Woodstock Raceway overnight two weeks ago and MacDonald hopes she will be rested and ready to battle the impressive line-up of Gold Series fillies taking advantage of the wild card.
“Mr. Walsh still has his farm, and she was out there for a couple of days after her race a couple of weeks ago, then I brought her in jogging,” says the 70-year-old horseman. “I’ll blow her out tomorrow (Thursday) and then keep her in until Sunday.
“She’s pretty young and that’s why I like to get her out to the farm and get her as much rest as I can, and yet keep her fit. It’s been working so far, I just hope we can keep going.”
Dave Wall will steer Marclif Victoria from Post 6 in the sixth race Sunday and the duo face a tough line-up of Gold Series regulars, including two-time Gold Elimination winner Zorgwijk Emani from Post 4.
“I would have liked to be in a little closer, but we’ve been drawing pretty good positions so you take the good with the bad,” says MacDonald philosophically. “They are talking rain on Sunday and I’m not sure how she’d handle the mud, but I think she’ll be all right. And it’s the same for everybody.”
MacDonald and Walsh have been partners since MacDonald started to train Marclif Victoria’s mother Marclif Aislin in 1997. The pair have raised three foals from the mare and after the first two failed to make an impact on the racing scene their expectations for Marclif Victoria were understandably low. As a result they are enjoying every moment of the filly’s success.
“Cliff won his first Sires Stakes 11 years ago to the day that we raced in Dresden (July 27), when she won her first one. He’s had two Sires Stakes winners and I’ve just had one, and we’ve been in the business a long, long time,” says MacDonald, whose operation is based at Clinton Raceway. “So we’re tickled to death with her. She’s as close to being perfect as I think you can have.”
Although MacDonald does not care where Marclif Victoria finishes on Sunday as long as she races her best, the veteran horseman would love to see her deliver a solid effort in front of the hometown crowd.
“There are a lot of people around here who have a lot of interest in her and ask how she is doing all the time,” he says. “At Hanover (Aug. 23) I was busy with her in the barn, but Cliff said there were all kinds of people from Wingham, Belgrave — where his farm is — and Clinton there to see her go.”
In addition to watching Marclif Victoria battle in the sixth race, Clinton Raceway fans will enjoy six other $18,000 Grassroots events on the 1:30 pm program as the two-year-old trotting fillies put their skill on the line in Races 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10.