CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — Mohawk Racetrack hosts the second last Gold Series event for the three-year-old pacing fillies on Monday evening, a $115,000 affair that will see just one filly eliminated from the field for next week’s Gold Final.

Returning to the Gold Series, after missing the August event at Rideau Carleton Raceway due to sickness, is former Gold Elimination winner Mach You And Me. The Mach Three daughter heads into the eighth race off a solid fourth-place finish in an Aug. 31 overnight at Mohawk, and trainer Ron O’Neill expects her to pick up where she left off before coming down with the virus.

“We were really happy with her last time she raced there at Mohawk, in the overnight,” says the Cambridge resident. “She got sick, unfortunately, on us, but she bounced out of it. She put some weight on and looks really good.”

A flat performance in the July 28 Canadian Breeders Final at Mohawk was the first indication that Mach You And Me was under the weather. After six straight races where she had finished no worse than second and laid down sub-28 second last quarters, the filly crossed the wire seventh and dragged her way to a :29.3 final fraction.

“She showed us a little there, but we put her back in at Ottawa. We thought there would be only one division, so we thought we’d have an extra week, but she got a real nasty cough the Monday before we were supposed to race in Ottawa (Aug. 6) and just could not get rid of it,” recalls O’Neill, who trains the filly for breeders Carwin Stable of Orono and driver Paul MacDonell of Guelph.

The trainer adds that Mach You And Me’s unplanned vacation did have some advantages. In addition to the weight she gained, the high strung filly was able to put some distance between herself and a flukey incident that marred her first foray into the Gold Series.

“We had a mishap at Mohawk, I think it was a Gold Elimination,” he explains. “She humped her bum like she was going to kick, but she went over too far and landed on the shaft. She tipped the jogger over and I fell out.

“She started running, but I hung on and managed to stop her a couple of times,” he continues. “That really, really scared her. She’s just now starting to chill out.”

MacDonell will steer Mach You And Me from Post 6 in the 11 filly field on Monday, which features all of the division heavy weights. Reigning Gold Final champion and Simcoe Stakes winner Michelles Power starts from Post 8, while the other two former Gold Final winners — Jans Luck and Milliondollarsmile — will start from Posts 1 and 4.

Mohawk Racetrack’s Monday evening program, which also features four eliminations for the Oakville Stakes for two-year-old trotting fillies, begins at 7:20 pm. The three-year-old pacing fillies will battle for a berth in next week’s $130,000 Gold Final in Race 8.

For complete entries please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/emohsmo.html#N8