TORONTO, ON — Balmy temperatures had the two-year-old pacing fillies stepping lively at Woodbine Racetrack on Saturday evening, as they battled in their last regular season Gold Series contest.
With V C Asteroid and Exotic Pleasure scratched, only eight fillies went in behind the gate for the $170,000 Gold Final, and the fillies starting furthest to the right on the starting gate were on their toes early.
FBs Terror and The Big Scoop sprinted off the wings to a :26.1 opening quarter, with each filly getting a brief glimpse of the front end before Tiz To Dream swept by to the :55.4 half. Tiz To Dream’s moment in the spotlight was also brief, as Higher And Higher sped by on her way to a 1:23.4 three-quarters.
Fan favourite Higher And Higher maintained her position on the front end around the final turn, but she was clearly under attack from Bay Girl and Western Silk. Turning for home Higher And Higher was one-quarter length ahead of her rivals, but when driver Mark MacDonald shifted Western Silk into high gear, the reigning Gold Final champion accelerated down the stretch to a three length victory in 1:52.2.
Ice Ice Baby closed sharply to claim the runner-up’s share of the $170,000 purse, with Higher And Higher holding off Bay Girl for third.
Western Silk’s 1:52.2 clocking was just two-fifths of a second off the Ontario Sires Stakes record for a two-year-old pacing filly on a seven-eighths mile track, set by Chancey Lady at Woodbine in 2007, and was just one-fifth of a second shy of the personal best Western Silk recorded winning her Breeders Crown Elimination at the Toronto oval three weeks ago.
Cambridge resident Casie Coleman trains the talented daughter of Western Terror and Extemporaneous for her partner Tom Hill of Lancashire, GB. Through 13 starts Western Silk has posted seven wins, one second and two thirds for earnings of $319,804. The filly has not been defeated in Ontario Sires Stakes company since she captured her first Gold Final title at Flamboro Downs on Sept. 24.
Western Silk heads into next Saturday’s $300,000 Super Final sitting atop the freshman pacing filly standings with 283 points. Woodbine Racetrack will host the Super Final season finales for all eight Ontario Sires Stakes divisions on Nov. 14, offering up a total purse of $2.4 million to the province’s gifted two and three-year-old trotters and pacers.
For complete results please go to: http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/racing/results/data/r1107wdbsn.dat.