LONDON, ON — On Saturday evening Western Fair Raceway plays host to 16 talented two-year-old trotting fillies in a pair of $48,145 Gold Series Eliminations.
Hoping to extend her season another week and accumulate a few more points toward a berth in the season ending Super Final is Wayne Bloomfield trainee Gaelic. The filly returns to Gold Series action after missing two events due to sickness and Bloomfield is hoping the Angus Hall daughter has finally kicked the virus that has been dogging her for more than two months.
“She looked like she was going to be a real nice filly but she got sick after Windsor (Aug. 11) and it set her back pretty good,” says the Kerwood resident. “She’s had the virus, the cough, for a couple of months and we can’t seem to get rid of it, but she hasn’t coughed in the last 10 days or so now.”
Through her first five starts Gaelic posted an impressive record, never failing to earn a cheque for owner Karen Carroll of Shedden. In the season opening Gold Series at Woodbine Racetrack she was fourth in her elimination and fifth in the Final. Four days later the half-sister to $300,000-plus winners Warrawee Kirra and King Of Trot finished second in a Flamboro Breeders division. Third-place finishes in a July 23 Gold Elimination at Grand River Raceway and the Aug. 11 Trillium Series division at Windsor Raceway rounded out the filly’s pre-virus resume.
Since falling ill Gaelic has raced just twice, failing to hit the board in a Grassroots event at Kawartha Downs on Aug. 31 and a division of the Oakville Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack on Sept. 14.
“She’s been training half decent,” says Kerwood. “And I’ve been a little tough on her the last few days trying to get her ready. It’s been pretty near 45 days since her last start.”
Gaelic will start from Post 8 in the first elimination Saturday, but Bloomfield does not think the outside position will impact the filly, who is at her best racing from off the pace.
“I think that might not be a bad spot for her. She likes to follow along,” says the trainer. “If you try to leave she can get scrambly gaited for a second.”
A $30,000 yearling at last fall’s Canadian Classic Yearling Sale, Gaelic currently has 25 points in the race for a berth in the Super Final. A top four finish would not only advance her through to the $100,000 Gold Final at Western Fair next Friday (Nov. 5), it would move her closer to a spot on the gate in the lucrative season finale. Among the fillies she will face in her bid for a top spot is reigning Gold Final champion Elena, who starts from Post 2.
Western Fair Raceway’s first race parades onto the half-mile oval at 7:30 pm on Saturday, with the two-year-old trotting fillies grabbing the crowd’s attention in Races 4 and 7.