Fillies Gamble On The Grassroots
Kims Royal Day, Windsong Jacoba and Mach Away spent the bulk of their sophomore seasons racing in the Gold Series, but all three fillies will be back in the Grassroots program for Monday’s regular season finale at Mohawk Racetrack, making a last effort to secure a berth in the $50,000 Grassroots Championship.
Kims Royal Day and Windsong Jacoba are currently tied for sixteenth in the standings with 55 points, while Mach Away sits twenty-first with 50. The current cut off for the three-year-old pacing filly Grassroots Championship is 80 points, so only a win will extend their seasons.
Kims Royal Day will make her run at the Mohawk winner’s circle from Post 3 in Monday’s fifth race. The Royal Mattjesty daughter started her season at the Gold Series level, recording one sixth and one seventh before dropping into the Grassroots program where she picked up her first win of the season at Grand River Raceway on Aug. 5. A fifth at Georgian Downs on Aug. 20 gave the filly her 55 points.
Cambridge resident Blake MacIntosh trains Kims Royal Day — who earned $295,080 in the Gold Series last season — for his partner Stu McIntosh of Essex.
Like Kims Royal Day, Windsong Jacoba started her season with a pair of out of the money finishes in the Gold Series, and then dropped down to the Grassroots where she also captured her division at Grand River and finished fifth at Georgian Downs. Unlike her rival, the Mach Three filly took one last run at the Gold Series fillies at Grand River Raceway on Aug. 26, but once again finished at the back of the pack.
Windsong Jacoba will attempt to score her third lifetime win from Post 3 in the eleventh race for trainer Barry Treen and owners Leonard Gamble of Etobicoke, Relatively Stable of Toronto, Charalambos Christoforou of Campbellville and William Loyens of London.
Unlike her peers, Mach Away debuted in the June 3 Grassroots season opener at Mohawk Racetrack, scoring a 1:53.3 victory, and then jumped up to the Gold Series level where she was fourth twice and seventh once. The Mach Three filly makes her return to the Grassroots program from Post 1 in the seventh race, carrying the hopes of trainer Carmen Auciello and owners Denarben Stables of Thornhill and Rocco Auciello of Stouffville.
Mohawk Racetrack sends its first race behind the starting gate at 7:25 p.m., and turns the spotlight on the three-year-old pacing fillies in Races 4, 5, 7, and 11.
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To view entries for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Entries – Mohawk Racetrack.