Driver Gord Brown had a flawless map to the Rideau Carleton Raceway winner’s circle on Friday night, capturing both $24,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots divisions for the two-year-old pacing fillies

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The Brighton, Ont. resident opened the Grassroots action aboard fan favourite Milliondollarfeeln and settled the filly in third through the early going, content to watch Ramadawn (Guy Gagnon) post the :29 quarter and Pindars Grin (Stephen Gendron) take the field to a :59.1 half. Brown rolled the filly up the outside heading by the halfway marker and the pair had reached the front by the 1:28.3 three-quarters.

Turning for home, Milliondollarfeeln was feeling comfortable with her one and one-quarter length lead, but local filly Ramadawn forced her to work for the victory, getting to within a nose of an upset at the 1:58.2 finish. Peter Haime of Ottawa, Ont. bred and owns Ramadawn, who finished a full five lengths ahead of third-place filly Umygeorgia Hanover (Mike Horner).

Brown engineered the victory for trainer Jeffrey Thomson, who shares ownership of the Million Dollar Cam daughter with his wife Lori Thomson. The Chesley, Ont. residents have cheered Milliondollarfeeln on to four victories and one third-place finish in seven starts this summer, and will now ready her for the Oct. 15 Grassroots Semifinals at Western Fair Raceway in London, Ont.

The top 16 point earners from the six regular season Grassroots events will square off in two $30,000 Semifinals on Oct. 15, with the top four finishers from each Semifinal earning a spot in the Oct. 23 Grassroots Championship, worth a cool $100,000.

Brown opted for a different strategy in the second Grassroots division with Lucky Taryn, stalking pacesetter Hedy Hudson (Denis St. Pierre) through fractions of :28, :57.2 and 1:27.1 before stepping out in the stretch and getting up for a half length victory in 1:57.4. Brush With Royalty (Ted McDonald) survived a parked out trip to earn second-place honours, leaving Hedy Hudson to settle for third.

Louie Eftimiadis trains Lucky Taryn for owner-breeder Gerald Mijal of Westland, Michigan. In 12 starts the Mach Three daughter has recorded two wins, four seconds and one third for earnings of $52,280. Friday’s win boosted the filly to the top of the division standings with a total of 170 points from two wins, two seconds, one third and one fourth in six Grassroots starts.

In addition to his pair of Grassroots victories, Brown also captured two overnight events at Rideau Carleton on Friday evening, and finished second three times and third once.

Rideau Carleton Raceway will host one last Ontario Sires Stakes event before the end of the season, welcoming the gifted two-year-old pacing colts to Ottawa for Gold eliminations on Oct. 17 and a $130,000 Gold Final on Oct. 24.

To view Friday's results, click here.

(With files from OSS)