Aberarder Emsfame makes her provincial debut at Hiawatha Horse Park on Thursday evening, and trainer Dwayne May is hoping the three-year-old pacing filly finds the

Grassroots company to her liking.

Since making her debut at Hiawatha on June 25, Aberarder Emsfame has posted two wins, two seconds and one third, and May hopes those outings will give the filly the foundation she needs to tackle the province's best.

"I didn't get her until September last year. That's when I broke her," explains the Sarnia resident, who conditions Aberarder Emsfame for Keith Matthews of Forest. "Then we ran into problems in the wintertime, she had to go to Guelph once, she was impacted.

"She was off the whole month of February," he adds. "That's what slowed us up, that's why we're so late getting to the Grassroots."

Fortunately, Aberarder Emsfame did not require surgery during her stint at the University of Guelph's veterinary clinic, and did not demonstrate any long-term ill effects from her bout of colic. She qualified at Hiawatha on June 18, and then made five starts over the Sarnia oval. On Aug. 13 May shipped her to Mohawk Racetrack for a test over the seven-eighths mile surface, but the dainty Apaches Fame miss finished tenth in the 1:54.3 mile. Two weeks later she was back in Sarnia and turned in her most impressive effort to date, carving all the fractions before being caught at the wire in 1:54.4.

"We took her to Toronto two weeks ago, and we didn't have any luck, but then she came back here and paced good," says May.

The horseman is hoping Aberarder Emsfame can repeat last week's strong performance from Post 1 in the ninth race on Thursday. Regular reinsman Terry Kerr will steer the filly in her Grassroots debut, facing off against a tough field of Ontario Sires Stakes veterans.

May will also mark a first on Thursday night. The longtime horseman, who spent his first decade in the business working alongside his friend Wayne Ellerker of Forest, gave up his day job last December and is enjoying his first year as a full time trainer.

"I just sort of had my own before that, but my trade was slowing down, I was in the construction trade, and I thought, I've got enough horses here now to pay the bills," explains May.

"I started out with my buddy, probably 20 years ago," he adds. "Wayne was a long time good friend of mine, he's passed away now. His father (Ron) was a good peer of mine too."

Through the first eight months of the 2009 season, May has sent horses to the post on 61 occasions and recorded six wins, nine seconds and eight thirds. His starters have already earned $43,287, more than double what they earned through all of 2008, and a strong showing by Aberarder Emsfame in Thursday's Grassroots contest would be the icing on what has already been a satisfying year.

"I just hope she races good," says the horseman. "And that we have fun."

Post time for Thursday's three-year-old pacing filly Grassroots showcase is 7 p.m., with the fillies taking centre stage on the Hiawatha Horse Park oval in Races 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 11.

(OSS)

To view Thursday’s harness racing entries, click here.