WINDSOR, ON — When the two-year-old trotting fillies return to Windsor Raceway for their $130,000 Gold Final on Wednesday evening, trainer Bob McIntosh figures all nine fillies have a shot at the big prize.
“There’s not much separating them all. It looks like a pretty even field. I think you could put them all in a hat and pick one out,” says the La Salle resident. “We just feel fortunate to be in it.”
McIntosh’s Hologram Hanover was the lucky fifth-place finisher who was drawn out of the hat to participate in the rich event. Like many of her peers, the Berndt Hanover daughter struggled with the footing over the five-eighths mile oval in last week’s elimination round, which saw four of the top six point earners in the division, including reigning Gold Final champion World Class Image, fail to advance.
“The track was a little loose. A lot of them didn’t perform up to their past performance lines,” notes McIntosh. “We’ll make a shoeing adjustment this week, put a little more grab on her and hope the track is the same way.”
After starting her career with a pair of victories, Hologram Hanover has struggled to hit the board in her last three outings but McIntosh hopes he has most of the wrinkles ironed out heading into Wednesday’s contest.
“The week before she threw a little tantrum behind the gate and then trotted a big mile to come back and get a cheque,” says the trainer of the filly’s fourth-place effort in the Aug. 19 Robert Stewart Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack. “We made one equipment change, put a Crit Davis bit on her so she couldn’t bounce off the check. That’s what happened, she got rooting around with her head behind the gate and made a break.”
While the filly minded her manners in last week’s elimination round, a long trip around the outside left her just shy of an automatic berth in Wednesday’s Final.
“She had, not a brutal trip, but a long journey last week,” says McIntosh. “Randy (Waples) liked her and we were hoping she would make the Final and for once we got a little lucky and she drew in, and got the two-hole.”
Randy Waples will return to the filly’s race bike on Wednesday, steering her from Post 2 in the eleventh race for McIntosh and his partners CSX Stables of Liberty Center, OH and Michael Kohler of Sterling Heights, MI.
“I think she’s a pretty good filly,” says the veteran horseman, who offered up $15,000 US for Hologram Hanover at last fall’s Harrisburg, PA yearling sale. “She’s a pretty fast filly, and she’s had a decent year already.”
Windsor Raceway’s first race rolls up behind the starting gate at 6 pm on Wednesday, with the two-year-old trotting fillies featured in Race 11.