Ipromisenottotell heads back to the Grassroots program on Wednesday afternoon at Flamboro Downs after failing to gain a toehold against the top two-year-old trotting fillies in the province

.

"She just had no luck," says trainer Joe Hudon. "She had the rail in the Gold elimination and made a break, then she got run into in the Champlain. We were kind of beating our heads against the wall."

Ipromisenottotell made her racing debut in an August 6 overnight at Mohawk Racetrack, and then delivered an impressive victory in Grassroots action at Hiawatha Horse Park on August 13, stopping the clock at 2:00.4. That effort prompted Hudon and owners R A W Equine Ltd. of Milton to enter the Angus Hall miss in the August 24 Gold elimination at Mohawk Racetrack. The filly drew the advantageous Post 1, but made an early break and finished well back of the field in seventh.

Hoping the break was a one-time phenomenon, Hudon entered Ipromisenottotell in the September 7 Champlain Stakes at Mohawk, but the pair suffered interference at the half and were knocked off stride. Ipromisenottotell rebounded with a solid fourth-place finish in her September 14 Peaceful Way elimination, but came down with a fever and had to be scratched out of the $475,000 final.

"Her best race was when she won at Sarnia, but she got a little sick after that and never really got over it," reflects Hudon. "And when they’re sick and weak, they can’t compete with the best.

"After she won in Sarnia, I did think she was going to be a top filly, buy it never worked out right," adds the Acton resident. "Maybe next year."

As the filly recovered from the illness, Hudon looked ahead at the Gold and Grassroots schedules, and decided to make a return to the Grassroots. With 50 points tallied in her August 13 victory at Hiawatha, Ipromisenottotell is just below the current cut off for the Grassroots post season, so strong finishes in the remaining two events could extend her season through the October 23 Semifinal.

"I think we’re going to stick with the Grassroots," says Hudon. "She’s going to be a little short this week, she’s just getting healthy now, but we need the points."

Hudon will steer the half-sister to $170,753 winner Scratchthatitch from Post 7 in the second $24,000 Grassroots division on Wednesday. The veteran horseman is confident that the filly will not have any problems with the transition to Flamboro’s half-mile oval.

"She’s great gaited," he notes. "Really a great gaited filly."

When Wayne and Robert Giles sent the homebred daughter of Imagine My Pride to Hudon last October, she made a positive impression from the start. However, as the tempo of her workouts increased, Hudon saw both flashes of speed and signs of instability, so he opted for trotting hopples right from her first qualifier.

"We liked her pretty good. She had talent and that, but it looked like she needed the hopples, because she could be a little erratic," recalls the horseman. "She’s nice in the barn, just on the track you had a feeling that she was going to make a break when the pressure was on."

Among the young pacers that may be applying pressure to Ipromisenottotell in Wednesday’s fourth race are five fillies currently ranked in the Top 16, including division leader Canada Cool from Post 5.

Flamboro Downs raises the curtain on its Wednesday afternoon program at 1 p.m., and turns the spotlight on the two-year-old trotting fillies in Races 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10.

To view Wednesday's harness racing entries, click here.

(OSS)