OTTAWA, ON — When Steve Condren packed for Sunday’s two-year-old pacing filly Gold Series Eliminations at Rideau Carleton Raceway, the veteran reinsman should have tossed a pair of water wings into his duffle bag.

With the Ottawa area pelted by rain for several hours prior to the start of Sunday’s program, the racing surface was rated a sloppy two seconds slower than normal by the time the freshman pacing fillies paraded on to the racetrack at 6:30 pm for their first $40,000 Gold Elimination.

Rolling in behind the starting gate in the driving rain, Condren sent Lauren straight for the front from Post 1 and the filly never relinquished the lead. The daughter of Modern Art kept the mud off her face through fractions of :29.3, 1:00.3 and 1:30.1, and then turned on the speed in the stretch to secure a three-quarter length victory in 1:59.

Pocket sitter Lyons Puddin Pie finished second, while Shipps Xanadu was three and one-quarter lengths back in third, just ahead of fourth-place finisher Look Cheap.

Milton, ON resident Condren piloted Lauren to her fourth lifetime victory for trainer Bob McIntosh of La Salle, ON and owner-breeders Gordon and Claudia Wright of Charlotte, MI. Out of the Wright’s successful homebred One Cadet ($318,254), Lauren’s half-siblings include $261,284 winner Gar and $453,58 winner Gro.

McIntosh started the filly with a June 25 qualifier at Mohawk Racetrack, where she finished first with a 2:00.1 effort, then sent her to Woodstock Raceway for an overnight event on July 3. Lauren led from start to finish in the non-winners of one race contest, halting the teletimer at 1:59. The filly’s next three starts were in the Whenuwishuponastar Series at Mohawk, and she posted wins (1:54.2 and 1:53) in the first two legs, but made an unfortunate break in the final, finishing ninth.

Back out into the damp for the second Gold Elimination, Condren once again had the rail with a Bob McIntosh trainee, and once again he opted to control the pace. Bunkhouse Babe delivered a dominant performance over the sloppy oval, rolling through fractions of :29.1, 1:00.1 and 1:28.2 on her way to a three and one-half length triumph in 1:57.1.

Battle of the Belles winner Village Janus tried to catch the leader, but did not have enough gas on this night and settled for second. Lyons Carrie finished third, Pearl Handlepistol was well back in fourth and fifth-place finisher Sauble Joyce was the lucky recipient of the last spot on the gate for next Sunday’s $130,000 Gold Final.

The win was the second this season for Bunkhouse Babe, who also captured her elimination of the Battle of the Belles. The Royal Mattjesty lass is owned by breeder Winbak Farm of Chesapeake City, MD, and is out of their mare Bunker To Bunker who is a half-sister to $1 million winner and successful sire Dragons Lair.

McIntosh’s fillies paid a steep price for their advantageous post positions in the elimination round, with Bunkhouse Babe drawing the outside Post 8 for the final and Lauren getting the trailing Post 9. The complete line up for next Sunday’s $130,000 Gold Final is as follows:

$130,000 Gold Series Final — Sunday, Aug. 15 at Rideau Carleton Raceway

Post 1 Lyons Puddin Pie

Post 2 Shipps Xanadu

Post 3 Pearl Handlepistol

Post 4 Village Janus

Post 5 Sauble Joyce

Post 6 Lyons Carrie

Post 7 Look Cheap

Post 8 Bunkhouse Babe

Post 9 Lauren

Also Eligible Imagine Semalu

For complete results please go to: http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/racing/results/data/r0808ridcfn.dat.