FRASERVILLE, ON — When the most talented three-year-old pacing fillies in Ontario converge on Kawartha Downs for Gold Series action this Tuesday, May 23, Rodger Webb will be the man standing at the rail pinching himself.

Just six weeks ago the Norwood resident acquired a share of Windsun Countess — his first racehorse — and the filly will line up against the province’s best in the last of four $29,000 Gold Eliminations at the Fraserville oval Tuesday.

“I’m a one-third owner of her, and this is actually the first horse I’ve ever been involved with,” says Webb. “I’ve had riding horses, but never a racehorse.”

Webb has long time friends Murray Ross and Randy Fife to thank for his swift inauguration into the world of Ontario Sires Stakes racing. After convincing Webb to take a stab at ownership, the Norwood residents went looking for a suitable prospect. They settled on Windsun Countess after watching former owner and trainer Murray Brethour team her to two seconds and one third-place finish at Kawartha Downs earlier this spring.

“I’ve likely known Murray (Ross) for 30 years, and I’ve known Randy at least 25 years,” explains Webb. “I guess I never showed an interest (in ownership) before, but now that Murray has the barn I go out there quite a bit. We were looking for a horse, we saw her and we liked her.”

The trio’s instincts about the filly were right on target. In the last six weeks she has posted a 1:57.3 victory at Kawartha Downs, one second and one third in legs of the Ladies First Series at Flamboro Downs and a 1:54.4 triumph in the May 7 Ladies First Final. And on May 16 she cruised to a runner-up finish in her final prep for Tuesday’s Gold Elimination.

“She’s done a wonderful job,” says Webb, who shares ownership on the filly with Ross’s MMR Stables Inc. and Janet Fife of Norwood. “She’s great to work around and she’s never shown a mean bone.”

Fife handles training duties on the Northern Luck daughter, who will start from Post 5 in her Gold Series debut. With a pair of Grassroots starts under her belt at two, Windsun Countess is no stranger to Ontario Sires Stakes action, but all six of the fillies she will face on Tuesday are veterans of the Gold Series, including former Gold Final winner Camaronni N Cheese, who starts from the advantageous Post 1.

The fillies begin their Gold Series battle in Races 2, 3, 4, and 6 on the 4 pm program Tuesday, with only the top two finishers from each elimination, along with one third-place finisher drawn by lot, earning a return ticket to Kawartha Downs for the May 30 Gold Final.

Complete entries are available at:

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