Ise The By Boy made a spectacular leap up the Ontario Sires Stakes three-year-old pacing colt standings with a victory at Flamboro Downs on Saturday afternoon
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Heading into the second $24,000 Grassroots division, the Mach Three son was sitting 37th in the standings with 29 points. Starting from Post 2, driver Jason Brewer tucked the colt in behind Royal Artist (Sylvain Filion) and hugged the fan favourite’s wheel as he rolled through fractions of :28.2, :57.3 and 1:26.4. In the stretch Brewer popped Ise The By Boy out of the pocket and the colt sprinted home to steal a half length victory in 1:56.
Mcmaverick (Simon Allard) traveled up the outside to finish second, leaving Royal Artist to settle for third.
Murray Brethour trains Ise The By Boy for Kevin Isaac of Bridgenorth, Ont., Jack Pearson of Bewdley, Ont. and Steve Boyce and Wayne Kilner of Peterborough, Ont. The victory launched the colt up the Grassroots standings into 13th spot and extended his Ontario Sires Stakes season through the Oct. 16 Grassroots Semifinals at Western Fair Raceway.
The top 16 point earners will battle in two $30,000 Semifinals, with the top four finishers from each Semifinal advancing to the $100,000 Grassroots Championship at Western Fair on Oct. 23.
Puslinch, Ont. resident Paul Mackenzie piloted two colts to Grassroots victory on Saturday, starting with first time Ontario Sires Stakes starter Smarter Yet. Mackenzie allowed the Western Maverick gelding to ease away from the starting gate and settled him in to sixth spot as Political Terror (Scott Coulter) rocketed away from Post 7 to a :28 opening quarter. As Political Terror sailed along to a :56.2 half and a 1:25.3 three-quarter, Mackenzie saved ground on the rail, waiting for the stretch to hit the accelerator.
With Political Terror tiring on the front end, there was a cavalry charge of colts down the stretch, with Smarter Yet prevailing over Luckamotion (Jason Brewer) and Four Js Rustler (Sylvain Filion) by half a length in 1:55.2.
Marie St. Charles of Whitmore Lake, Michigan owns and trains Smarter Yet, who has amassed a sophomore record of nine wins, five seconds and three thirds in 26 starts, racing primarily south of the border.
Mackenzie made his second visit to the Grassroots winner’s circle following the third division, guiding Wellthereyougo to his second win of the season. The pair controlled the tempo from start to finish, ringing up fractions of :28.1, :56.4 and 1:24.4 on their way to a 1:53.4 triumph. Fan favourite and division point leader This Is Wyatt (Joe Hudon Jr.) finished second and What The Sheik (Doug McNair) crossed under the wire in third.
Dr. Ian Moore of Charlottetown, P.E.I. shares ownership of Wellthereyougo with R G McGroup Ltd. of Bathurst, N.B. and Serge Savard of Saint-Bruno, Que. Saturday’s win established a new personal best for the Camluck son, who has struggled to find his footing this season after a freshman campaign that saw him earn $295,250. The colt wrapped up his Grassroots regular season in third spot in the division standings with 132 points from two wins, two thirds and one fourth.
The final division saw Brusiers Brother and Robert Shepherd take advantage of the sharp early fractions set by Tigers Mattjesty (Mike Saftic) — a :27.2 quarter, :56.1 half and 1:25.1 three-quarters — to sweep down the stretch from fourth to a one and one-half length victory in 1:54.3. Cajon Thunder (Simon Allard), owned by Uncirculated Stable of Brantford, Ont., JL Benson Stables Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and KDM Stables Corp. of Farmingdale, New York, finished second and Modern Era (Doug McNair) was third.
Louie Eftimiadis trains Brusiers Brother for owner-breeder Gerald Mijal of Westland, Michigan. Unfortunately, Saturday’s win left the Mach Three son five points short of the Top 16, so his connections will be hoping some of the leading point earners opt out of the post season.
Saturday’s sophomore pacing colt contest completed Flamboro Downs’ 2010 Ontario Sires Stakes schedule, which saw the Dundas oval host 14 provincial events, highlighted by an OSS record performance from two-year-old trotting colt Daylon Magician on Sept. 25.
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(With files from OSS)