The Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series Super Finals are set for this Saturday at Woodbine Mohawk Park with six wild-card entries from the Grassroots champions getting a chance to claim part of the $2.4 million purse pool in a twist to the provincial program introduced this year.

Post time for Saturday’s 12-race card is 7:10 p.m., with the eight $300,000 divisional Super Finals taking place in Races 2-9.

Of the eight Grassroots champions that were crowned on Sept. 28, as many as seven have the potential to participate on Saturday. They are Century Komodo (three-year-old colt pace), Collusion Hanover (three-year-old filly pace), Crack Shot (two-year-old colt pace), Love Those Legs (three-year-old filly trot), Tellers Choice (two-year-old filly trot) and Wendell Blue Chip (two-year-old colt trot) with Pick Me Up Hanover (two-year-old filly pace) is listed as an Also Eligible entry.

Horses must have started in a minimum of one Gold Series leg to be eligible for their respective Super Final. Complete point standings can be found on the "Leaderboard" page of the Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) website. New for the OSS 50th Anniversary season, winners from the Grassroots Championships were allowed to enter and draw into the Super Final if it did not fill with Gold Series point earners.

This new twist added to the Gold Super Finals this year, while certainly adding another level of excitement to the racing with a wild-card factor, may not work for everyone, however.

“It helps the event itself and makes for better racing … I’m happy with [the new rule] because we got a horse in who made the Gold Finals,” said Gregg McNair, who trains Crack Shot and has locked up his sixth Johnston Cup as the leading trainer in the OSS. “On the other hand, let’s say you had the best Gold horse and some horse from the Grassroots comes along and beats you in the final, you wouldn’t think this was a good rule.”

Interestingly, Crack Shot followed up his Grassroots Championship with a second-place finish in last week’s Gold Series leg, meaning the scenario that McNair laid out with a Grassroots horse swooping in during the Gold Super Finals and winning it all could play out with his own horse.

“He was second, but he was coming pretty good at the end,” said McNair of Crack Shot’s Oct. 3 performance. “He’s about as good right now as he’s been all year.”

Heading into Saturday’s action, the Grassroots invitees will be a very interesting story to watch, along with a tight two-man race for the Lampman Cup between McNair's son Doug, who previously won in 2014, and three-time defending champion James MacDonald.

Only 11 points separate McNair from MacDonald and with both men driving in all eight Super Finals on Saturday, the 2024 Lampman Cup could literally come down to the final OSS race of the evening.

“It’s always fun when it’s close. We love the competition. That’s what we’re in the game for,” said MacDonald of the tight Lampman Cup standings. “So, it’s a dogfight, but, hopefully, I can come out on top. I’m just happy to drive some great horses.”

For more on the Super Final fields, click here.

(With files from Ontario Racing; Photo of Crack Shot winning on Oct. 3)