On Friday, October 23, Western Fair Raceway will kick off three weeks of Middlesex Series action, the finals of which will anchor the track’s richest night of racing during its fall meet on November 7.
The Middlesex Series is for Ontario-sired performers, four years of age and younger, which were non-winners of $10,000 in lifetime earnings as of September 15, 2009.
The festivities will begin tomorrow night with seven Middlesex divisions carded, three for the trotting colts and four for the pacing fillies. The colts will square off in the first three races on the card with Learn The Lingo one to watch in the second race.
A homebred from the barn of Hall of Fame horseman Ron Waples, Learn The Lingo is a three-year-old Earl gelding which has three wins in eight starts so far this year. He’s drawn Post 4 with Ross Battin listed to steer.
The fillies are spotlighted in Races 6, 9, 11 and 12. The first division features the Mach Three filly Smashbox which has yet to finish off the board in five lifetime starts. Trained by Jim Ainsworth for owners Larry Ainsworth, Martwest Racing Stable and Bill Boden, the three-year-old comes into tomorrow night’s contest riding a two-race winning streak.
Saturday night’s program includes a trio of Middlesex divisions for both the trotting fillies and pacing colts. The distaffers are in Races 1, 3 and 8, with the final event starring favourite Another Vixen.
The three-year-old daughter of Kadabra comes into Saturday’s race off a four-length victory in an Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots test at Georgian Downs for trainer/driver Shane Weber. The filly is owned by Elizabeth and Tom Rankin of St Catharines, Ont.
The colts will go postward in Races 10, 11 and 12 with local horse Warners Rambaran the one to watch in Race 11. Owned and trained by breeder John Warner of St. Thomas, Ont., the three-year-old gelding has two wins and two seconds in four lifetime starts. He’ll start from Post 4 with Trevor Henry in the bike.
The second legs of the Middlesex Series will be featured the following weekend at Western Fair. The four $50,000 finals will be part of a rich card on November 7, which will also feature two $130,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold finals for rookie trotting fillies and pacing colts.
To view the harness racing entries for Western Fair's Friday card, click here.
(Western Fair Raceway)