REXDALE, ON —When Serenity Seelster’s connections tested the waters in the first Gold Series event back in May, they were not sure the filly would be able to compete with the province’s best. Heading into the last regular season event on Monday evening at Woodbine Racetrack, the three-year-old pacing filly has proven that, not only can she compete with the province’s best, she ranks among them.

With one win, three seconds, one third, one fourth and two fifths through eight Gold Series starts, Serenity Seelster currently sits third in the division standings and she heads into Monday’s Gold Elimination off an impressive victory in the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association Stake at Mohawk Racetrack on Sept. 23.

“That was a great win. It was kind of a surprise for us, we didn’t think she had the guts to dig in the way she did,” says Garth Bechtel, who shares ownership on the filly with his brother Glenn Bechtel of Kingston and trainer John MacMillan of Spencerville. “She kicked it into another gear that we didn’t think she had.”

Serenity Seelster has made it a practise of delivering results beyond her owners’s expectations. A $7,500 purchase out of a mixed sale in August 2004, the Camluck daughter won her first race for the trio before the ink on the change of ownership papers was dry and she has earned $293,950 this season.

“We never imagined this when we bought her,” says Bechtel. “We bought her because we thought she had potential.”

Once the filly proved that she belonged on the Gold Series circuit MacMillan and the Bechtels began a thoughtful orchestration of her racing schedule. Although she has made 21 starts this season, only 13 of them have occurred since the start of the Ontario Sires Stakes season and during that time there was only one occasion where she failed to collect a cheque.

“John and my brother Glenn have been doing a great job managing her,” says Bechtel. “She’s very small, she’s tiny, so we have to pick our spots.

“She shows a lot of guts on the racetrack, but we don’t want to push her too hard,” adds the Caledon Village resident.

Serenity Seelster and regular reinsman Tony Kerwood will make their bid for another Ontario Sires Stakes pay cheque from Post 1 on Monday and Bechtel says they are probably the only entry in the race who would rather have drawn further away from the rail.

“Post 1 is a little bit of bad luck for us because she’s such a flighty mare,” he explains. “We would rather have been in the three, four or five-hole.”

Kerwood and the fractious filly overcame the inside post at Woodbine to win a June 13 Gold Elimination and Bechtel hopes the veteran reinsman can craft another successful outing from the less than ideal post.

“Tony does a great job driving her,” says the longtime owner. “He’ll figure out, when the gate opens, where she should go and what she should do.”

Among the fillies Kerwood will have an eye out for on Monday are newcomer Azrael from Post 4 and three time Gold Final winner Lady Dillinger from Post 6.

Woodbine Racetrack’s first race parades onto the racetrack at 7:40 pm on Monday, with the three-year-old pacing fillies set for battle in Races 2 and 4. The top five finishers from each elimination will return to the Rexdale oval on Sunday, Oct. 30 for the last $130,000 Gold Final of their careers.

For a complete list of entries please go to:

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