WINDSOR, ON — Caught My Eye and her two-year-old trotting filly peers return to Gold Series action on Sunday, July 16 at Windsor Raceway and trainer Frank O’Reilly is looking forward to testing his Gold Final winner over a five-eighths mile track.

“I’m sure the bigger track will move her up,” says O’Reilly, who owns Caught My Eye in partnership with John Ferguson of Windsor and John Fielding of Toronto. “It looks like she drew a good spot and if she trots like she did at Flamboro she should be tough.”

The Angus Hall daughter and regular reinsman Bill O’Donnell posted a 2:00.1 victory in the July 8 Gold Final at Flamboro Downs, taking three seconds off the 2:03.1 mile they clocked one week earlier in the elimination round.

“That was a pretty good mile at Flamboro. It was fairly impressive considering he never touched her, he just spoke to her at the head of the lane,” notes O’Reilly. “And that filly she beat of (Wayne) Henry’s, that’s a good filly, and she managed to trot around her.”

A $55,000 acquisition out of last fall’s Forest City Yearling Sale, Caught My Eye has impressed O’Reilly since the very beginning with her manners and ability.

“I’ve had some pretty decent fillies over the years, but she seems to be a little special,” he admits. “Anybody could have trained this filly. She did everything easy and she is the kindest, nicest filly.”

The Orton resident jokes that Caught My Eye must be something special to have survived his training and Hall of Fame horseman Bill O’Donnell’s driving.

“I’d really love it if you wrote that, �After overcoming O’Reilly, she overcame Bill O’Donnell,'” quips the horseman. “Actually Bill has a great, great calming effect on the filly and everyone around her. Bill just keeps them quiet.”

In addition to her Gold Elimination and Final triumphs, O’Donnell teamed the filly to a 2:07.4 win in a Trillium Series division at Sudbury Downs on June 24. The veteran reinsman also engineered the young trotter’s first qualifier, a 2:05.3 victory at Mohawk Racetrack on June 9, before handing off to O’Reilly for a second qualifier 10 days later, where she trotted to a 2:05 runner-up effort over Grand River Raceway’s half-mile oval.

“If she stays healthy we could have a lot of fun with her this summer,” says O’Reilly. “We’ve already had some fun.”

Caught My Eye and O’Donnell will begin defence of their Gold Final crown from Post 4 in the first of three $33,857 eliminations on Sunday. Among the fillies they will face are four that made their Gold Series debut at Flamboro, one who captured a Grassroots division at Georgian Downs on July 4 and two making their first lifetime start.

Windsor Raceway’s first race rolls in behind the starting gate at 7 pm on Sunday, July 16, with the two-year-old trotting fillies battling for a top three finish in Races 4, 6, and 9. Only the top three finishers from each elimination will earn a return invitation to Windsor for the $130,000 Gold Final on Sunday, July 23.

For complete entries please go to:

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