REXDALE, ON — When the three-year-old pacing fillies roll into Woodbine Racetrack on Monday evening for their second Gold Series event, Tony Debartolo will be breathing a little easier than he was three weeks ago when Moving Pictures made her debut at the provincial racing circuit’s top level.

The filly eased any anxiety Debartolo felt about her leap up to the Gold Series with a 1:54.4 elimination victory in the May 23 season opener, and will make her second bid for provincial honour from Post 2 in the first of four eliminations on Monday.

“It was incredible,” says Debartolo of the filly’s early victory. “This is the third horse I bred out of the mare and right from when she was born she was physically correct, so we had some expectations of her.”

Moving Pictures has so far lived up those expectations, posting a record of two wins and two thirds in six starts as a two-year-old and one win and one third in eight starts this season. She finished just out of the money in the first Gold Final of the season, but Debartolo is hopeful that she will be back on her game Monday.

“She was a touch sick coming out of the race in the Gold Elimination and we treated her up the best we could, but we felt she was still a little sick coming out of the Final,” explains the North York resident, who entrusts Ronald Parson with Moving Pictures’ day to day care. “She trained up today and Ronny called and said she trained fantastic, so I think she’s over her sickness.”

Phil Hudon will return to the race bike Monday and Debartolo expects the reinsman will be looking for another come from behind effort with the D M Dilinger miss.

“Ronny prefers to see her race from off the pace,” says the owner-breeder. “She’s better when she’s following other horses.

“It’s a pretty competitive field,” he adds. “This is a very competitive bunch of fillies. I can’t see one filly going out and dominating this year. I think there will be a few fillies peak at the right moment and be competitive.”

With just two Gold Series starts under her belt, Debartolo expects Moving Pictures to show steady improvement over the course of the Ontario Sires Stakes season and he would love to see her counted among the top fillies by the end of the campaign.

“The funny thing about her, the more she races, the better she gets,” he says. “By racing her against the better competition, I thought she’d get better herself.

“If she continues to develop I expect her to be one of the better fillies in September, October.”

On Monday Moving Pictures and Hudon face five fillies who made the trip to Kawartha Downs and two newcomers to the Ontario Sires Stakes scene. Debartolo expects some of the toughest competition to come from Even Now, a 1:52.1 winner at Woodbine on May 29 who will start from Post 6, and Easy Feelin, who makes her provincial debut from Post 7 with a record of two wins and one second in three starts.

Only the top two finishers from each of the four $30,000 eliminations are guaranteed a berth in the June 18 Gold Final. Two third-place finishers drawn by lot will round out the field in the $130,000 contest, which headlines opening night at Mohawk Racetrack.

The talented three-year-old pacing fillies open Woodbine Racetrack’s Monday evening program at 7:40 pm and are also featured in Races 2, 4, and 6.

For complete entries please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/ewdbsmo.html