Last December Chris Matthews, John Fewster and Desmond Scott bought themselves an unusual Christmas gift, an immature two-year-old pacing filly they hoped would transform over the winter into a long-legged sophomore racehorse.

The gamble paid off and the partners, who hail from Guelph and Orangeville, will gather at Grand River Raceway on Friday evening to watch Taras Jet compete in the third Grassroots event of the three-year-old pacing filly season. The filly has already earned one Grassroots trophy and will take aim on a second from Post 2 in the first $24,000 division.

“I bought her in December and gave her a month’s stall rest before I started her up,” says Matthews of the long-legged filly. “She showed speed right from the word go. I was just hoping that nothing would blow apart on her. So far, knock on wood, we haven’t had any major issues.”

Taras Jet raced three times as a two-year-old, but struggled due to what Matthews expects was primarily a lack of maturity. When she returned to the racetrack this spring the filly had matured mentally and physically and rang up three straight victories between her April 21 debut at Georgian Downs and the first leg of the City of London Pacing Series at The Raceway at Western Fair District on May 8.

The daughter of Jeremes Jet-I Will Survive finished fifth in the May 25 City of London Pacing Series Final and fourth in her Grassroots debut at Hanover Raceway on June 9. In the second event, at Rideau Carleton Raceway on June 17, Taras Jet garnered her first provincial trophy with an impressive 1:54.4 personal best, which she bettered by four-fifths of a second two weeks later in an overnight event at Mohawk Racetrack.

The filly heads back to Grassroots action off two starts in the Town Pro Series at Mohawk, where she finished fifth in the first leg on July 6 and third in the second leg on July 16.

“We had her paid into the Canadian Breeders and if she’d gone a decent trip the first week we were going to go to the Canadian Breeders (July 14),” recalls Matthews. “But she got locked in, so we never did know. The next week she went a decent trip and finished third. We figured if we went in the (Town Pro) final at best we might be third, and if we went to the Grassroots, if she drew decent, we’d have a decent shot at the top three, and it’s right at Grand River.”

Taras Jet will benefit from Post 2 on Friday and boasts the quickest personal best of the nine fillies in the second race field. Her toughest competition is expected to come from the other two Grassroots division winners, Phoenix Seelster, who will be hampered by the outside Post 8, and Insincerity, who gets the trailing Post 9.

Matthews says the filly trained well on Monday and should be ready to rumble over her local oval.

“She’s a funny mare, she’s always had issues with steering,” explains the Guelph resident, adding that he was not entirely satisfied with the way she maneuvered around Mohawk in her last start. “But the way she went today, I’d say she’s good to go.”

The horseman, who works full-time for trainer Gregg McNair and trains just one horse of his own, adds that his partners are delighted with the results of their Christmas purchase and looking forward to watching Taras Jet compete at Grand River on Friday.

“We’re just keeping our fingers crossed that she keeps going. The boys are ecstatic, there’s no complaints,” he says with a chuckle.

Taras Jet and her peers will kick off the Grassroots action in Race 2, with the other three-year-old pacing fillies parading onto the Grand River Raceway oval before Races 3, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 11. Post time for the Elora oval’s first race on Friday, July 27 is 7:05 p.m.

To view entries for Friday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Friday Entries – Grand River Raceway.

(OSS)