by Sandra Snyder, for the Ontario Sires Stakes

Campbellville, ON — Ontario’s gifted 2-year-old trotting fillies swing back into Campbellville this Saturday, September 29, for the second-to-last Gold Final on their schedule, and trainer Kevin O’Reilly is hoping elimination winner Feels Like Magic can deliver another strong finish and stay on the course he has charted for her freshman season.

“Hopefully she’ll get enough points (so) we can leave her on the big track,” says the Moffat resident. “She’s probably not quite ready to go on a half yet.”

After Saturday’s Gold Final at Mohawk Racetrack, the freshman trotting fillies will meet up for their last regular season Gold event on October 5 over Western Fair Raceway’s half-mile oval. Feels Like Magic will have just five starts under her belt, all off the pace performances, and O’Reilly feels the daughter of Kadabra and Doyenne would be better served by skipping the October event and going straight to the November 10 Super Final.

“She doesn’t show any gate speed, she had three or four races from off the pace, and the other night she came first up,” notes O’Reilly, who trains the filly for the Feels Like Magic Stable of Campbellville. “I think she could leave if you wanted her to and it wouldn’t faze her, but I’d rather teach her this way from the start, and then teach her to leave later if we have to.”

With 83 points earned through her first three Gold Series appearances, Feels Like Magic currently sits sixth in the Super Final point race, not quite enough to assure her of a spot among the top 10 in the talent laden 2-year-old trotting filly division. A strong finish in Saturday night’s skirmish would give O’Reilly the flexibility to skip the Western Fair event and keep the winner of $64,602 on the seven-eighths-mile oval for the remainder of her freshman campaign.

Bill O’Donnell will pilot Feels Like Magic from post five on Saturday, and O’Reilly is confident that if anyone can keep the filly on course, it is “The Magic Man.”

“When you have a young horse with no experience, it’s nice to get someone with a lot of experience to teach them,” says the trainer, of his decision to engage O’Donnell. “He’s driven a million trotters, he knows what he’s doing, and he doesn’t mind giving you his opinion.”

O’Reilly adds that watching Feels Like Magic advance along her learning curve has been an enjoyable experience for him and the members of the Feels Like Magic Stable — Dr. Dan McMaster and Dr. David Powell of Campbellville and Tine Nielsen of Moffat. The New Zealand native says the filly’s brains and personality have made her a joy to work with.

“She’s a cool horse,” he says. “She’s a nice horse to be around. You can do anything with her you want, and she’s always been that way.”

Feels Like Magic and her peers will square off in race five on Mohawk Racetrack’s 7:20 p.m. program Saturday. The other elimination winner, Torch, will make her bid for a second Gold Final title from post seven.

Mohawk Racetrack Gold Final
Race 5 — C$130,000
Post – Horse (Sire) – Driver – Trainer
1 – Beyond Limits (Angus Hall) – S. Condren – S. McEneny
2 – Its My Time (Angus Hall) – R. Zeron – J. Takter
3 – Thy Worthys Jwl (Wesgate Crown) – A. MacDonald – A. MacDonald
4 – Somebody To Love (Angus Hall) – L. Ouellette – D. McCall
5 – Feels Like Magic (Kadabra) – W. O’Donnell – K. O’Reilly
6 – Magical Memories (Kadabra) – K. Oliver – L. Walker
7 – Torch (Kadabra) – J. Jamieson – C. Jamieson
8 – Gaelic Mistress (Striking Sahbra) – S. Byron – J. Bax
9 – Windsun Magical (Kadabra) – J. Gilchrist – J. Gilchrist
10 – Delphic (Striking Sahbra) – Ra. Waples – R. Laarman
AE1 – In Fine Form (Striking Sahbra) – T. Ritchie – W. Hamm
AE2 – Stonebridge Dancer (Angus Hall) – T. Ritchie – O. Formia
AE3 – Nashotah (Duke Of York) – P. MacDonell – J. Bax