by Karen Briggs, WEG Media

Campbellville, ON — Two-year-old pacing fillies get their chance to sparkle this Thursday night (July 16) at Mohawk, when the Whenuwishuponastar series gets underway.

Two C$20,000 opening rounds will be featured on the card along with three Ontario Sires Stakes Gold divisions for 2-year-old pacing colts. It’s the girls first up, with Carl Jamieson’s Sylvan Lake, and Jason Libby’s Cool Jazz, the likely ladies to watch in race number one (post time 7:30 p.m.).

The unraced Sylvan Lake was noteworthy in her one qualifying effort to date, pacing home second in 2:00.4 at Mohawk, while Cool Jazz, from the first crop of North America Cup champion Rocknroll Hanover, has already made one pari-mutuel appearance in the Robert Stewart Stakes. While she finished fifth, she went in an impressive 1:54.4 clip with a :27.2 closing panel in that effort on July 6.

While the second Whenuwishuponastar division (race four, post time 8:27 p.m.) is equally short on experience, there should be no shortage of action. Watch for John Pentland trainee Gussie’s Girl, a daughter of The Panderosa who was second in her first and only career start to date, in a 2-year-old conditioned race at Mohawk July 6; she’s been rated the 2-1 second favorite in this field and will be leaving from the far inside.

At the other end of the starting gate will be Cams Cupid, Rod Duford’s pupil who won her second qualifier, at Sarnia’s Hiawatha Horse Park, in a tidy 1:57.4, before finishing fourth in the Robert Stewart Stakes at Mohawk. She’s the 8-5 morning line first choice based on those efforts.

Some stars are sure to emerge from the firmament in this series. Catch the Whenuwishuponastar opening round on Thursday night at Mohawk to see who will shine.