by Greg Gangle, WEG Communications

Campbellville, ON — On The Cusp, co-owned and driven by Steve Byron, will look for the biggest payday of her career when she goes to post for the C$50,000 Girls’ Night Out Pacing Series final on Friday night (August 10) at Mohawk.

The daughter of Camluck found the winner’s circle in the first leg, followed up by a fifth-place performance in the second round from post 10.

New Image Media photo

On The Cusp has banked $31,604 this year with three wins in 15 starts.

“She’s been racing really well,” Byron said. “She’s got terrific gate speed, which I decided to use in the first leg, but in the second it’s a little harder from the 10 hole.”

The 5-year-old miss has banked $204,002 in her career for Byron, who shares ownership with Craig Wallwin, Ian Macintosh and John Van Reenen. Byron’s brother, David, handles the conditioning.

“She took some time as a 2-year-old to develop because she’s a big mare and needed to mature,” Byron said. “As a 3-year-old she had a respectful campaign and has turned into a very credible older horse.”

On The Cusp has crafted an impressive 13-10-8 record from 63 lifetime starts.

“There’s no doubt she races better when she’s in the hunt or on the front-end,” he said. “She has proved to be a decent overnight horse on the WEG circuit and you can never complain about that.”

Looking ahead to the rich final, Byron believes there are a number of horses that could find the wire first.

“There are quite a few good horses that could win it,” he said. “There have been a few different winners from the divisions over the past few weeks, which sets up for an interesting race.”

On The Cusp has been assigned post 11 in the 12-horse field, a position Byron believes is not in his favor.

“When we won the first division of the first leg, we had a good post to work with and I used her gate speed. Now, from the trailing position, we can’t use that. We can only follow the field out and hope to get landed well and work out a trip.”

The Girls’ Night Out Pacing Series is for older pacing mares, who were non-winners of C$30,000 in 2012 as of midnight July 1, with a minimum of five starts this year. Winners of more than C$100,000 in 2011 were ineligible.

The final is slated for the same night as the Girls’ Night Out extravaganza. Ladies in attendance can win a pair of floor seat tickets to the upcoming Madonna concert at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Also included in the package, the lucky winner will dine at the highly-regarded Turf Lounge, receive a C$500 Elmwood Spa certificate, and a one-night stay at the Royal York Hotel.

Each participant will also receive a complimentary C$10 cash card to play in the exclusive Girls’ Night Out Handicapping Challenge. The Handicapping Challenge winner will walk away with the Madonna prize pack, valued at C$2,000.

The contest is open to the first 50 women who register at Trackside Bar & Patio this Friday (August 10). Each person will also receive a complimentary Girls’ Night Out gift bag.