REXDALE, ON — Fresh off a track record equalling performance in the July 31 Canadian Breeders Championship the talented three-year-old pacing fillies return to Woodbine Racetrack on Saturday to battle in their fourth Gold Series event.

Only 12 fillies have signed up to compete against two-time Gold Final winner and Canadian Breeders champion Invitro, who will start from Post 1 in the first Gold Elimination. Among those ready to battle the current division queen is Illusionist, who makes her debut in the Gold Series from Post 4 in the second elimination.

“Except for Invitro I think we’re the best in the field. I’m serious,” says part owner Larry Cometto. “But we’re in with a bit of an animal in Invitro right now.”

Cometto and his partners Scott Enman of Pickering and John Dragojevic of Nobleton acquired Illusionist on July 18, just after the Camluck daughter set a track record at Hanover Raceway in a division of the Grassroots Series.

“We purchased her off Fred Drouillard, but it took Scott (Enman) three months of discussions before Fred relented. He really didn’t want to sell initially,” recalls Cometto. “He thinks she is as good as Burning Point and we just think we’ve got a bargain on our hands. We’ll cross our fingers anyway.”

As the negotiations progressed the trio approached trainer Carl Jamieson about adding the filly to his powerful stable and Cometto says the Princeton resident was immediately interested.

“Carl’s the hottest man on the market right now with two and three-year-olds so we went and had a discussion with Carl. He knew the horse and he jumped at it,” says the Oshawa resident. “We’re not big players. We’ve had some good claimers and conditioned horses, but this is our first trip down the path with a stakes horse at this level.”

Since the change in ownership Illusionist has made just two starts, capturing her July 23 Canadian Breeders Elimination in 1:54 and finishing fourth in the $139,028 Final last weekend, and has recouped $26,018 of her purchase price for Enman, Cometto and Dragojevic.

“Fred asked for a big price and we paid it,” says Cometto on the subject. “And all the credit to Fred, after she set the record at Hanover he didn’t jump up the price on us, he honoured the price he had quoted.”

In her Gold Series debut on Saturday Illusionist will face veteran competitors Double Creme from Post 3, Special Magic from Post 5 and last season’s O’Brien award winner Serious Comfort, making her first start on Lasix, from Post 6.

The top five fillies from each elimination get a call back to Woodbine Racetrack for the $130,000 Gold Final on Saturday, Aug. 14, meaning all but two fillies from the first elimination and all but one from the second will return to the Rexdale oval next week.

Post time for Woodbine’s Saturday evening program is 7:40 pm, with the three-year-old pacing fillies heating things up in Races 2 and 3.