by Karen Briggs, WEG media

Toronto, ON — “She’s taken all year to get a win, but every week now she’s been getting sharpier and racier,” says trainer Tom Riley of his 3-year-old pacing lass, Hudson Gal.

“We were kind of shocked that she is 5-2 going into Friday’s elimination, but she’s a nice filly and she’s getting the hang of the bigger track at Woodbine. She’s not really a half-mile horse. Randy (Waples), who drives for me when I come to Toronto, said it might take her five or six starts to get used to the style of racing there, and that’s turned out to be true.”

Riley, 21, who is taking his first stab at the Ontario Sired Autumn Series on Friday night (Nov. 27) with the Astreos filly owned by Garry Bye, calls Kawartha Downs his home track, but seems to be having good luck in the Big Smoke. Hudson Gal scored the first win of her sophomore season on November 12 at Woodbine, in a new speed mark of 1:54.1, coming off an eight length triumph in a Kawartha Downs qualifier a few days earlier.

She was to have followed that up with another start at Woodbine, but when heavy fog forced the card’s cancellation last week, Riley opted to take in another qualifier, which Hudson Gal also won handily.

Having drawn post two in a short field of seven doesn’t hurt, either.

“Normally, she doesn’t leave all that well,” Riley says, “but with that post position and a seven-horse field, she should be okay. The main thing is to get into the final.”

Two flights of pacing fillies will go postward on Friday night at Woodbine, in a pair of C$20,000 eliminations for the Ontario Sired Autumn Series final, slated for Friday, December 4. They start off the card as races one and two, post times 7:30 p.m. and 7:50 p.m. (EST).