WINDSOR, OCT. 30, 2001 — Ontario’s top two-year-old trotting fillies wrap up their regular season at Windsor Raceway Friday night in their last Gold Series Final.

Among the fillies vying for the lion’s share of the $100,000 purse and the last Super Final points is Cheridan Star, owned by Daniel Johnson of Wallaceburg. The King Conch filly takes her second run at a Gold crown from Post 2 and Johnson expects her to be sharper on Friday than she was in last weekend’s Elimination round.

“She’d had a month between races and Roy (Jeffries) had just moved, so I expect her to be a fair bit better on Friday,” he says. “We were glad to see two short fields for the elimination.”

In last weekend’s elimination round Cheridan Star and regular driver Doug Brown finished third to Natashas Kiss to post their second top three finish in Gold Series action after spending the bulk of the season competing in the Grassroots. Moving up to the Gold level for the Sept. 24 event at Mohawk Racetrack, Cheridan Star finished fourth in the Elimination and second in the Final.

Although she qualified for the Grassroots post season Johnson and Jeffries opted to give the filly a second shot at the Gold Series, and a solid performance on Friday would earn her a berth in the $250,000 Super Final at Mohawk Racetrack on Nov. 10

“I’ve got a long range plan. I just wanted her to get an education as a two-year-old,” explains Johnson. “We were just hoping that she developed and we could hit a couple of Golds in the fall. She wasn’t really pressured and all her starts have been positive ones so we are looking for some good future plans as a three-year-old.”

Cheridan Star currently occupies the tenth qualifying spot for the Super Final with 45 points and Johnson says the $250,000 championship will bring the filly’s rookie campaign to a close.

“My plan with two-year-olds is always 10 starts and the Super Final would be 11,” he explains. “With two-year-olds it is just a treat even to race them so we are having a lot of fun.”

Cheridan Star will face a solid field of youngsters in the ninth race on Friday night, including Elimination winners Smoky Sunset and Natashas Kiss, who will start from outside Posts 8 and 9. Windsor Raceway kicks off its Friday night program at 7:25 pm.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT SANDRA SNYDER AT 519-656-2017 (TEL./FAX) OR smsnyder@sentex.net.