INNISFIL, ON — Ontario’s gifted two-year-old pacing fillies return to Georgian Downs on Tuesday evening for three Gold Series Eliminations just three and a half weeks after opening their Ontario Sires Stakes season at the Innisfil oval.
Among the fillies heading back to Georgian Downs is Lucy’s Fame, who dominated the June 21 Trillium event with a seven length victory in 1:57.2.
“She really raced awesome up there. She won in 1:57.2, just for a joke,” says the filly’s trainer Carl Jamieson of Princeton. “She’s got a lot of speed.”
Since her victorious season debut things have not all been smooth sailing for Lucy’s Fame, who made a break in the June 30 Gold Elimination at Woodbine Racetrack and failed to advance to the $130,000 Gold Final one week later. However, after the break Jamieson made several equipment changes on the Apaches Fame lass that he believes will help her when she tackles Georgian Downs’s five-eighths mile oval from Post 5 in the seventh race on Tuesday.
“She got a little upset in the Elimination. The horse broke beside her and she got all worked up and out of whack. She got jammed up in a hole and couldn’t even get back pacing right after, but she still finished with the pack,” recalls Jamieson. “So I put a hood and a martingale on her and I think she’ll be all right up there.”
Jamieson shares ownership on Lucy’s Fame, who was a $7,500 bargain at last fall’s Canadian Classic Yearling Sale, with Glengate Farms of Campbellville and Karl Ungerman of Toronto.
Joining Lucy’s Fame on the journey to Georgian Downs will be two of her stablemates, S A Cheerleader and Taylor Lynne. S A Cheerleader will start from Post 8 in the first race and Jamieson hopes the filly will finally be able to showcase her talents in spite of the outside post position. In her first two starts of the season, the June 30 Gold Elimination and a two-year-old filly contest at Woodbine on July 7, S A Cheerleader suffered interference at the three-quarter pole that caused her to make a break.
“She got run into twice in a row and now she’s got the eight-hole, all this filly has is bad luck,” laments Jamieson. “She’s a nice enough filly that shows some speed, but she really hasn’t had a chance to prove herself. She made a break when we jerked her sideways, and you can’t really blame her for that.”
A comparatively expensive yearling at $25,000, the Village Jiffy daughter is owned by Jamieson, his brother Jerry Jamieson of Blenheim, Gerald Ross of Downsview and Break N Run Racing Stable of Ohsweken. All three fillies will be piloted by son Jody Jamieson, the defending World Driving Champion.
The final entry from the Jamieson stable is Taylor Lynne, who will start from Post 3 in the fourth race. The Fit For Life daughter finished third in her June 30 Gold Elimination and fourth in the July 7 Gold Final and has been Jamieson’s favourite since she arrived in the barn last fall.
“She’s one of our best fillies. She was an awesome training filly all winter, one of them fillies you like all the time,” says the veteran conditioner. “I like her better than most of my horses, she’s nice gaited, has a good attitude and shows some speed.”
Jamieson and partners Jerry Jamieson, Gerald Rattray of Hamilton and Arthur Slack of Cumbria, England acquired the Fit For Life daughter from the Northern Standardbred Sale in Barrie last fall for $15,000, which she has paid with interest in two starts.
Among the fillies that Jamieson’s trio will face on Tuesday are the top three finishers from the season opening Gold Final. Reigning champion Double Creme will start from Post 4 in the fourth race, runner-up Venus Killean gets Post 2 in Race 4, and third-place finisher Warrawee Flare will start from the advantageous Post 1 in Race 7.
The high speed freshman pacing fillies open Georgian Downs’ Tuesday evening program in the 7:30 pm first race, with the other two eliminations heading onto the track in Races 4 and 7. The top three finishers from each elimination will earn a return invitation for the $130,000 Gold Final on Tuesday, July 22.