REXDALE, ON — With Precious Delight missing from Gold Series Elimination action at Woodbine Racetrack on Friday night, her Ontario-bred peers are breathing a sigh of relief.

While the undefeated division leader is extending her win streak south of the border, the rest of the sophomore pacing filly division will be scrambling to pad their bank accounts and add points to their Super Final totals before the window of opportunity slams shut on their race bikes.

Among the fillies hoping to improve her standing in the division over the next two weeks is Go Alberta Go, who currently sits in eighth spot with 54 points earned through one second, two thirds and a fifth in Gold Series competition.

“She was a pretty nice filly last year and she’s done all right this year,” says trainer John Kopas. “The only night I felt she didn’t race up to par was in the Gold Final here at Woodbine (June 24). Other than that she’s been good.”

The Albert Albert filly, owned by breeders Glengate Farms of Campbellville and Clay Harland Horner and Suvretta Stables of Toronto, missed the last Gold Final at Georgian Downs (July 13) due to a bout with sickness, but Kopas says she is fit and ready for Friday’s event.

“She just wasn’t right at the time so we decided to just skip the whole thing and have her ready for the next one,” explains the Campbellville resident. “She trained really well, I just wish she had drawn better.”

Go Alberta Go will start from the outside Post 8 in Woodbine’s eighth race on Friday, against a field that includes the second and third-place finishers from the July 13 Gold Final. Lady Graceful will make her bid for a fifth win from Post 2 for trainer Bob McIntosh and owner Robert Waxman of Ancaster while Nicki Newton hunts for her first Gold Series win from Post 4 for Don Culham of Cambridge and John Clark of Toronto.

Kopas’s filly, whose claustrophobia makes her tricky to load on a trailer and requires her handlers to back her in and out of stalls, will need a top five finish to advance to the Aug. 9 Gold Final. The first five finishers from each Elimination will add points to their Super Final totals and will make the return trip to Woodbine for their fourth $130,000 Gold Final.

Woodbine Racetrack’s Friday night festivities get under way at 7:40 pm with the three-year-old pacing fillies scheduled to take centre stage in Races 2 and 8.