DUNDAS, ON — Flamboro Downs hosts a trio of Trillium Series divisions for the two-year-old pacing fillies on Friday afternoon and trainer Rick McNeill is hoping his entry of Dreamcometrue and One Hot Beach can claim some of the $80,460 up for grabs at the Dundas half-mile.
Dreamcometrue heads into Friday’s fourth race off a runner-up finish in the Sept. 20 Grassroots event at Georgian Downs and McNeill hopes the Gothic Dream lass can make a successful transition back to Flamboro’s half mile from Post 7 in the $26,820 contest.
“She’s a pretty tall filly so we’ve just been taking it easy with her, letting her come along at her own speed,” says the Brantford resident. “I don’t know if the half-mile track will be good for her, she comes a little close to her knees, but she likes to come from off the pace so the seven-hole is not that bad.”
McNeill shares ownership on Dreamcometrue with fellow breeder McWilton Stables of Campbellville and the partners have banked $17,749 on her behalf through eight starts. She finished second in her first Trillium start, Aug. 24 at Rideau Carleton Raceway, and McNeill would be satisfied with a replica of that effort at Flamboro.
“She and One Hot Beach trained together all winter. One Hot Beach was always the better of the two, but I think this filly might be better next year,” says the trainer. “She is quite growthy.”
Due to her demonstrated talent and her American-based sire, One Hot Beach has followed a different path to Friday’s Trillium event. The Jennas Beach Boy daughter has matched wits with the top young pacers in North America and earned two wins and one third through seven starts in the process. She will make her bid for a second Trillium victory from Post 2 in the seventh race and, in spite of the advantageous post, McNeill would love to see the filly use some of the come-from-behind skills he has been working on teaching her recently.
“Up until last week she liked to use it all early and then try to hang on, but she raced a little better from off the pace last week at Mohawk,” he explains. “I’d like to see her sit in a little more and be a little more manageable, but looking at the sheet it didn’t look like she was in tough so she might be the one to go to the front. Keith (Oliver) will have to see what happens when the gate folds.”
At the conclusion of her two-year-old campaign One Hot Beach will be headed to Pennsylvania for the Harrisburg Sale, a decision that McNeill, his brother Dale McNeill of Campbellville and Janet Vallecoccia of Milton made last winter.
“Our plan was to race her through her two-year-old season and then sell her in the Harrisburg Sale,” explains McNeill. “So she has the Trillium, the Flamboro Breeders (Oct. 10) and then she’s done. She has no more stakes races.”
With that in mind, the filly’s owners would love to see her deliver a sharp performance on Friday to bring her freshman season to a successful close. Among the fillies who will try to prevent One Hot Beach from scoring a second Trillium win is Grassroots winner and former Gold Series competitor Wipethatsmerkoff from Post 1.
Flamboro Downs raises the curtain on its Friday afternoon program at 2:45 pm and turns the spotlight on the two-year-old pacing fillies in Races 4, 7, and 10.