Rideau Carleton Raceway in Ottawa hosted the richest night of harness racing in the track's history, headlined by the eight $100,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots Finals
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Trot Insider's recaps of the lucrative stakes finals follow.
$100,000 Grassroots Final for Two-Year-Old Trotting Fillies
Favoured Canada Cool (Jody Jamieson) was on the lead through splits of :28.4, :59.1 and 1:29.2 ebfore feeling the pressure of second choice Ipromisenottotell (Joe Hudon). These two fillies dueled down the stretch with Ipromisenottotell getting up by a nose in a lifetime best 1:59.1.
"My filly was good enough to overcome the outside post position," said Hudon after the win. "I had three deep early as the cover not going fast enough. She raced great as did Jody's filly."
The time of the mile ties Canada Cool's track record just set last week, and daughters of Angus Hall finished 1-2-3-4 with JM Annie in third and Onehallofawoman in fourth.
Hudon trains Ipromisenottotell (Angus Hall-Imagine My Pride) for R A W Equine Inc of Milton, Ont. The filly now has four wins and over $95,000 in earnings
$100,000 Grassroots Final for Two-Year-Old Pacing Fillies
Jody Jamieson guided favoured Lyons Anitacol to a confident first-up win in 1:54.2 for trainer Bill Robinson and owner Geoffrey Lyons Mound of Burford, Ont.
Holiday Shopper (Jason Brewer) finished second and Misty Moonstone (Peter Core) grabbed show.
"I almost got this filly beat, a terrible drive but she overcame it," said Jamieson post-race. "I just wanted to stay out of trouble, she's a quality filly. It's really is nice to be here, I feel as though I have a shot in every race."
The E Dees Cam - Thereal Ideal miss is now 7-for-11 on the season with over $150,000 in purses.
$100,000 Grassroots Final for Two-Year-Old Trotting Colts
Brad Forward pulled the trigger with Scotty Doesnt Know three-wide on the backstretch to haul down pacesetter Krakatoa (Mike Saftic) - who had been on the engine through fractions of :28.3, :59.3 and 1:29.4 - and held off a late bid by Fuel Cell (Steve Byron) to win by a quarter of a length in 2:00.1. Markofdistinction (Johnathan Drury) was third.
"The horse made it look easy, but I had to come earlier than I wanted to around Jody's horse [Kava Kadabra] and it worked out well," said Brad Forward after the win. "John [trainer Drennan] told me that if I had him on top early he'd try to fall asleep and he did just that so I was happy to get him home."
Scotty Doesnt Know (Malabar Maple - Lukes Ronda) is owned by DDT Stable of Burlington, Ont. and trained by John Drennan. He takes a new race record and improves his seasonal record to four wins, three seconds and a third in eight starts with over $140,000 banked.
$100,000 Grassroots Final for Three-Year-Old Pacing Fillies
Public choice Star Of Show (Jamieson) was parked through the :27.3 opener, cleared and felt immediate pressure from Champale Blue Chip (Forward). That pressure was sustained through the :57 half with longshot Chief Karen (Robert Shepherd) second over. As the field approached the three-quarter station, Shepherd was out three-wide on the backstretch (a common theme thus far) and cleared the early leaders just past the 1:26.1 third panel. With a tired tandem backing through the field, Shepherd was clear of the field for the 17-1 upset win in 1:54.2 over Bunny In The Bank (Dan Clements) and Lil Miss Nyalation (Jason Brewer)
Burke Racing Stable LLC, Fredericktown, PA owns the Camluck-In Your Dreams filly and David Menary handles the training. Chief Karen paced back to her lifetime best in her fifth win on the season, good for over $169,000 in seasonal earnings.
$100,000 Grassroots Final for Three-Year-Old Trotting Fillies
Daylon Mystique was a confident gate-to-wire winner for trainer-driver Wayne Henry, carving out splits of :28.3, a breather at the half in :59.1, opening up down the backstretch in 1:27.4 before putting away the field and crushing her foes by some seven lengths in a life's best 1:57.4. Senorita Conchnita (Steve Scrannage) was the best of the rest over Lunar Stream (Steve Byron).
Dan McCann of Parkhill, Ont and the Henry Stables of Arthur hold the papers on Daylon Mystique (Amigo Hall - Daylon Marvel), who vaults over the $300,000 mark in lifetime earnings.
$100,000 Grassroots Final for Three-Year-Old Trotting Colts
Overdraft (Steve Byron) fronted the field through fractions of :28.1, :58.3 and 1:27.2 before facing his first true test in the form of Brad Forward and Berndt Energy, who brushed three-wide around stalled cover and surged to the lead around the final turn. A :30.1 closing quarter was enough to seal the deal for Berndt Energy over Dashing Earl (Dave Boughton) and Mopey Corey (Anthony MacDonald) in a time of 1:57.3.
Favoured Burnt Stew (Larry Small) did not make the gate and was never in contention. Small eventually pulled him up and the trotter did not finish.
When asked about the same winning move as his first Grassroots final, Forward stated that "both trips were very similar, the horses in front of me didn't take me as far as I wanted to but my horses were strong enough to allow me to do it."
Berndt Energy (Berndt Hanover - Direct Dial) is a homebred owned and trained by Bob McIntosh who co-owns with C S X Stables of Liberty Center, Ohio. The eighth win on the season lofts the bay's bankroll to over $137,000 lifetime.
$100,000 Grassroots Final for Two-Year-Old Pacing Colts
In a similar trip to the freshman pacing filly division, Jody Jamieson brought favoured Twin B Warrior first up against pacesetter Warrawee Lad (Gord Brown), clears on the backstretch and pulls away for the 1:53.3 win, a new lifetime best for the lightly-raced son of Apaches Fame - What An Attitude. Raging Grin (Joe Hudon) finished second with show honours going to PL Dangerous (Shepherd).
A recall was charged to Lyons Frank, who had his head under the wings of the gate and was off-stride prior to the start of the race.
"After the recall a lot of horse were wound up," said Jamieson after the victory, his second OSS Final win on the evening. "I was very happy with how my colt was behaved. I knew had a great shot going past the half when we cleared Gord [Brown and Warrawee Lad]."
When asked about the future for this talented youngster, Jamieson stated that Twin B Warrior is "a big strong colt and I think he's done for the year, but the sky's the limit. for him."
Jeff Gillis trains Twin B Warrior, now a winner of three of his four lifetime outings, and Mac Nichol of Burlington, Ont. owns. Nichol purchased Twin B Warrior, Hip #83 in last year's Forest City Yearling Sale for $82,000, and his rookie pacer now boasts $83,000 in earnings.
$100,000 Grassroots Final for Three-Year-Old Pacing Colts
Blended Whiskey and driver Robert Shepherd followed the cover of public choice My Gift To You (Jamieson) and when that pacer was stretched out to clear to the half in :55.3, Shepherd pressured Blended Whiskey on against the favourite down the backstretch. My Gift To You folded, leaving Shepherd in the clear to open up a sizzling :27.1 third panel to hit three-quarters in 1:22.4. With urging down the lane, Blended Whiskey gave shepherd his second Grassroots final of the night, tripping the timer two lengths the best in 1:52.1 Mild Mannered (Steve Byron) was a game second with My Gift To You a well-beaten third.
"I just hoped I'd get a couple of decent cheques tonight," quipped Shepherd after the win. "This one is just as good as the first win tonight."
In talking about the trip, Shepherd felt following the favourite's helmet was his best bet.
"I got away with Jody in front of me, and his horse seemed pretty crooked in the turn so after he cleared I asked mine for some more and I took it from there."
Now a winner of 10 races and over $200,000 lifetime, Blended Whiskey (Rambaran - Leia Lee) is trained by Travis Umphrey for owner Terry Hamilton of Lethbridge, Alta. Hamilton is profiled in the November issue of Trot Magazine.
Undercard - $12,100 Preferred Pace
Nocturnal and driver Jody Jamieson used a ground-saving strategy in the $12,100 Preferred, finding room to follow Priceless Edition (Gord Brown) three-wide at the head of the stretch then tipping off that one's helmet in deep stretch to deliver on their even-money status in 1:53.4. Priceless Edition was a half-length back in second while pacesetter Best Show In Town (Guy Gagnon) stayed for third.
Gary Leach co-owns Nocturnal (Real Artist - Neverending Dream) with trainer Lesley Newland of Dunrobin, Ont. The 15th lifetime win puts the five-year-old bay's bankroll to over $167,000 lifetime.
Jamieson ended the night with six wins, bringing his North American leading total to 647.
For the results from Rideau's Sunday card of harness racing, click here.