GLOUCESTER, ON — When two-year-old trotting filly Sephora makes her Gold Final debut on Wednesday evening at Rideau Carleton Raceway, owner Dr. Frederick Albert hopes the good luck that finally graced the filly in last week’s elimination round will be back in the race bike alongside trainer-driver Jason Gilchrist.
In her first two Gold Series starts Sephora encountered more bad luck than some horses face in a whole season. At Flamboro Downs on July 6 she was the victim of an interference break when a horse to her inside went off stride and in the July 29 elimination at Woodbine Racetrack she crossed inside the pylons and was placed from third back to tenth. Last Wednesday’s runner-up finish was flawless and marked the kind of performance Albert has been hoping for since the filly made her victorious racing debut on June 29 at Sudbury Downs.
“When she went up to the Trillium in Sudbury and she trotted one quarter in :29.3 we thought we’d try her in the Gold. She got interfered with in her very first (Gold Series) start at Flamboro, but we thought we’d try again at Woodbine,” recalls Albert. “When she had bad luck at Woodbine we thought, we’ll try again at home.”
Albert missed seeing the filly’s runner-up finish to Aimees Image last week, but the Prescott resident plans to be trackside this Wednesday when she makes her bid for a share of the $130,000 Gold Final purse from Post 4.
“I missed it last week because I was on call, but I’m hoping to get there this week. We take great pride in her because she is a locally owned homebred,” he says. “It will be tough because they are all good horses, but we’ll try our best and see how she does.”
Sephora and Spencerville resident Gilchrist will line up in between elimination winners Stephen Byron and Aimees Image (Post 3) and Wayne Henry and Independent Woman (Post 5). With one Gold Final and three Gold Elimination wins on her resume, Independent Woman is expected to be established as the solid favourite by Rideau Carleton Raceway fans.
Ross Henry trains Independent Woman and the Arthur resident says the filly bounced back from the trip to Ottawa as though she’d never left her stall.
“She came home and there was a big puddle in her paddock and she laid right down and rolled in it. Nothing bothers her,” says Henry. “She was feeling good today (Friday). She was running and jumping and playing out there.”
The Royal Strength daughter has been bested just twice in her seven-race season, by Sephora in her June 29 debut at Sudbury and by Mikestory in the Aug. 5 Gold Final at Woodbine Racetrack. With Mikestory failing to advance to Wednesday’s Final, Henry is optimistic that Independent Woman can maintain her lead atop the division standings heading into a month-long hiatus in Ontario Sires Stakes action.
While many of her peers use the opportunity to compete against their American-bred cousins in Grand Circuit action at Mohawk Racetrack, Henry has decided Independent Woman has earned a vacation.
“I always figure they’ll make me enough money in the Sires Stakes, and if they’re not they don’t belong in there anyway,” says the three-time winner of the Johnston Cup as the leading trainer in the OSS program. “We’ll give her a week off and then start back jogging her. We’ll maybe put her in a schooler or give her a good training before the next one (Sept. 25).”
Rideau Carleton Raceway’s Wednesday evening program begins at 6:30 pm with the talented two-year-old trotting fillies ready to raise the excitement level in Race 8.