Thirty-seven freshman pacing fillies from every corner of the province descended on Grand River Raceway on Monday evening to wage five impressive Grassroots battles.

Bale Me Out shipped in from Pennsylvania for the event, and the crisp Ontario air clearly agreed with the filly as she romped to a two and a half length victory in 1:58.1, the fastest mile of the Grassroots divisions.

Arthur resident Trevor Henry picked up the catch drive on Bale Me Out, and used the advantageous Post 1 to land the Aces N Sevens daughter on the front well before the :29.1 opening quarter. Through a :59 half and a 1:29 three-quarters, the pair loafed along on the front end, before kicking into a higher gear in the stretch.

Capilano Creek stalked Bale Me Out through the mile and paced under the wire in second, while Casimir Im O K closed from sixth at the top of the stretch to earn the third-place finisher's share of the $20,000 purse.

Richard Gillock trains Bale Me Out for owner and breeder Harry Locke of Oshawa. The Pennsylvania-based trainer qualified the young pacer once at The Meadows and then sent her out in a two-year-old filly stake race on July 7 where she finished third after carving most of the fractions in the 1:55.3 mile.

Young reinsman Doug McNair of Guelph scored just his second Ontario Sires Stakes victory in the third division, piloting Stonebridge Breeze to a commanding four and one-quarter length victory for his father, trainer Gregg McNair of Guelph, and owners Angie Stiller of Arva and Artana Stables of St. Thomas.

Firing out of Post 3, the 18-year-old reinsman had Stonebridge Breeze on top by two lengths at the :30 quarter, and the pair never saw a serious challenge as they cruised through a 1:01.3 half and 1:31 three-quarters en route to the 1:59.3 victory.

Daylon Highlander survived an overland trip to finish second and Zegerid Lady closed well to be third, nine and a half lengths to the rear.

The victory marked Stonebridge Breeze's second straight appearance in the Grand River Raceway winner's enclosure. Following a solid June 28 qualifier at Mohawk Racetrack, Gregg McNair started the Camluck miss in a July 7 overnight where she sprinted around the Elora half-mile to a 1:59.2 victory.

Homebred fillies captured four of the five Grassroots divisions with Splashedbycourage alone in her representation of those acquired at last fall's yearling sales.

A bargain basement $1,000 purchase out of the Fall Extravaganza Sale, Splashedbycourage has already scored two wins and banked $13,800 for trainer Andrew Deleersnyder and owner Steven Deleersnyder of Windsor.

Brad Forward engineered Monday's victory, which saw him float Splashedbycourage off the starting gate and into fifth spot on the rail while Itsa Rap Hanover led the field of seven to a :30.1 quarter. Heading for the 1:00.3 half, Forward opted to send Splashedbycourage after the leader and the filly had moved into the lead by the 1:30.3 three-quarters.

A sharp finishing kick cemented things for the Intrepid Seelster lass, stopping the clock at 1:59.4 and giving her a second straight victory to add to the one she recorded at Woodstock Raceway on July 8.

Power Outage and Itsa Rap Hanover rounded out the top three in the last Grassroots divisions.

The other Grassroots battles were captured by Romi Mystic in 2:01 and Oye What A Gal in 1:59.4.

The two-year-old pacing fillies will continue their Grassroots rivalry on July 31 at Hiawatha Horse Park, while Ontario Sires Stakes excitement continues to build at Grand River Raceway toward the Gold Eliminations for the two-year-old trotting colts on Tuesday, July 29.

(OSS)

To view Monday's results, click here.