by Karen Briggs, WEG Media

Toronto, ON – Sixteen shiny new sophomore fillies will go head-to-head on Monday night, April 6 at Woodbine, as the Celias Counsel Trotting Series gets underway in two C$20,000 splits.

In the first division, the lightly-raced Blue Blush, fresh from a bit of a southern vacation in which she broke her maiden at Florida’s Pompano Park on St. Patricks’ Day, may be worth watching. Trained and driven by Wayne Henry, who co-owns the daughter of Self Possessed with Dan McCann of Parkhill, Ontario, Blue Blush made three starts at Mohawk in her freshman year, but this will be her first spin around the Woodbine oval.

In the second split (race #3, post time 8:02 p.m.), Mark Etsell of Shanty Bay, Ontario will be sending his homebred Mystical Vision behind the gate for her first stakes start of 2009. The Striking Sahbra miss has enjoyed a six-week vacation since her last pair of efforts, in which she scored two third-place checks. She broke her maiden on January 24 at Kawartha Downs, trotting home in 2:04.0. Her owner/trainer will be in the bike on Monday as she leaves from the far outside in her field of eight.