GLOUCESTER, ON — After starting from the outside half of the gate for the last four weeks, two-year-old trotting filly Patsy’s Point will finally have an opportunity to test her skills from a spot closer to the rail on Thursday evening at Rideau Carleton Raceway.

“We got lucky in the draw, she got Post 4. She’s in a good spot there,” says trainer Jimmy Takter. “We haven’t had any luck with post positions, especially in the Final.”

Patsy’s Point earned her way into Thursday’s $130,000 Gold Final with an impressive 2:01.3 victory in last week’s elimination round. Takter and the Striking Sahbra daughter started from the outside Post 8, sat sixth through the opening quarter before circling up into second, and then sprinted home to the half length victory.

In the season opening Gold Series at Mohawk Racetrack the pair were forced to use a similar strategy after drawing Post 6 in the July 5 elimination and Post 9 in the July 11 Final. In the elimination Takter managed to engineer a pocket trip for the filly, who posted a smart 1:58.4 victory, but their journey in the Final was not quite as smooth and saw the fan favourites settle for second behind Lisa’s Mission.

Heading into Thursday’s battle the reigning Gold Final champion is one of the fillies Takter expects to contend for the lion’s share of the $130,000 Ontario Sires Stakes purse.

“There are a couple of good ones in there,” notes the East Windsor, NJ resident who will fly into Ottawa for Thursday’s race. “I was impressed with the horse (Lisa’s Mission) that won the second division last week. She raced very well.

“It’s a tough race, it will be a good race.”

While Patsy’s Point will start closer to the rail, Takter says that Rideau Carleton fans should not expect to see a radical change in racing strategy from the winner of $63,094.

“I prefer to race my two-year-olds from behind. I think they develop better like that,” explains the trotting specialist, who has conditioned the winners of more than $15 million. “I like to win races, but I also like them to develop, to keep getting better. It’s a long year and they’ve got a lot of races.”

Takter trains Patsy’s Point for his wife Christina Takter of East Windsor, NJ and John Fielding of Toronto. The group acquired the filly for a mere $17,000 at last fall’s Tattersalls Yearling Sale.

“She’s a good individual, and she was at a spot in the sale where we were able to purchase her for the right price. We were lucky,” recalls Takter. “She was pretty nice from the beginning. She did everything right all winter.

“She’s a very big girl. She’s got good size, a nice gait and good desire too,” he adds. “She’s maybe a little better on a bigger track than a smaller track because of her size.”

Takter notes that the move to Rideau Carleton’s five-eighths mile track from Mohawk’s seven-eighths mile surface or the one mile oval at his Meadowlands base requires a slightly different, more careful style of driving.

“It’s always a little bit difficult when you’re racing two-year-old trotters on this kind of track,” he says. “You have to be very alert and a little lucky. There could be breaking horses and there’s not much room. It’s a little tight.”

The veteran horseman and Patsy’s Point will be looking to snare a bit of luck from Post 4 in the eighth race on Thursday evening’s 6:30 pm program. Rideau Carleton Raceway fans will also be expecting big efforts from the other elimination winners, Sears Tower and Lisa’s Mission, who will start from Posts 2 and 5.

For a complete list of entries please go to:

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