“She was a little finicky and a little filly-ish when we first started with her,” recalls Zeron. “She was afraid of tractors and the big grandstand, but the further she went along the more she liked them, and about two months ago she just started being perfect. She’s like a four-year-old mare out there.”
Peach Martini will make her Ontario Sires Stakes debut from Post 2 in the first $40,000 elimination, and heads into the test off a pair of qualifiers at Mohawk Racetrack. On June 19 the filly was a steady second in 2:02.2, and on July 2 she clocked a 2:00.3 victory, touring around the seven-eighths mile oval well out in front of her peers.
Although Zeron has not tested Peach Martini over Flamboro Downs’ half-mile oval, the veteran trainer-driver does not expect the smaller surface to adversely impact the daughter of Striking Sahbra and Armbro Martini.
“She goes around the turns at Mohawk just as straight as an arrow, so I don’t think we’ll have a problem with the turns,” he explains. “Everything you ask her to do, she does.”
Zeron and his partners Michael Katz of Thornhill, ON, Stephen Waldman of Toronto, ON and Rojan Stables of Wilmington, DE purchased the half-sister to $397,697 winner Cordial Martini from last fall’s Harrisburg Yearling Sale, offering up $25,000 for the youngster. The filly’s pedigree was the first thing that caught the group’s eye, and her conformation sealed the deal.
So long as Peach Martini continues to make steady progress along the path Zeron laid out for her in the spring, she will compete in all of the major stakes for freshman trotting fillies, and on behalf of his fellow owners the trainer is hoping she can pick up a bit of hardware here and there.
“All three are great families of people to own horses with. I’m pleased that we finally got a nice two-year-old,” says the horseman. “I’m happy for my partners on this, because they deserve it.”
Zeron and Peach Martini face a field of eight in Friday’s second race, with all but two heading into the contest from qualifying action. The top four finishers from each of the eliminations will return to Flamboro Downs for the $130,000 Gold Final on July 23, and Zeron is hoping Peach Martini is among them.
“She is just an all around nice filly,” he says. “I hope we can get our picture taken on Friday.”
The second $40,000 Gold Elimination features one of the highest priced fillies sold in Ontario last fall. Dancin Darlin was acquired from the Canadian Open Yearling Sale for a cool $140,000, and the daughter of Angus Hall and Dance To Market makes her debut from Post 1 in the third race.
Milton, ON resident John Kopas trains Dancin Darlin for KR Stable of Milton, ON, Doug Millard of Woodstock, ON, LLK Stable of Mississauga, ON and Melvin Hartman of Ottawa, ON. The regally bred youngster will be looking to recover from a miscue in her last qualifier and return to the form that saw her post a 2:02.1 victory at Mohawk on June 19. Moffat, ON resident Jack Moiseyev will steer Dancin Darlin in her OSS debut.
Flamboro Downs sends its first race in behind the gate at 6 p.m. on Friday night, with the two-year-old trotting fillies facing off in Races 2 and 3.