Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots champion Ipromisenottotell made her sophomore debut a winning one in the fastest of five $24,000 divisions for trotting fillies on Wednesday evening at Western Fair Raceway
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Ipromisenottotell and Phil Hudon got away third from Post 2 in the fourth division with Boots N Heart (Dave Wall) in front and Velten Ladolcevita (Wayne Henry), the longest shot on the board at odds of 40-1, leading the way to the first quarter in :28.4. The heavy 1-5 favourite brushed to command en route to the half in 1:00 and reached three-quarters in 1:29 before trotting to victory in 1:59. Boots N Heart closed well for second and Velten Ladolcevita finished third.
Joe Hudon Jr. trains the winning daughter of Angus Hall-Imagine My Pride for Burlington’s R A W Equine Inc. Ipromisenottotell won four of her six OSS starts as a two-year-old, including the $100,000 championship, to earn $93,500 in the program.
In the opening division, Go Far (Doug McNair) made a break behind the gate as did Post 1 starter Our Angel Flight (Ted Jacobs), who caused interference to the trailing This Flight Tonite (Robert Shepherd) prompting a recall. When the fillies tried it again, Rebelious Royalty and Anthony MacDonald touched down on the front at the opening quarter and worked up a 4-1/2 length lead by the three-quarters mark. The daughter of Mutineer-Royal Font, sent postward as the 2-1 second choice, was able to coast home for the 1-3/4 length score in 2:00 thanks to her early domination. Our Angel Flight and Dry Tears (Mike Whelan) finished second and third. Trained by James MacDonald and owned by Terry Hunter of Troy, ON, the win was Rebelious Royalty’s first in the OSS program and first of the season in four outings.
Harlequin Seelster went wire-to-wire to win the following split in 2:00.2 for driver Steve Byron and trainer John Bax. The 5-1 third choice won by three lengths over Excellence (Bill O’Donnell) and Cool Canada (Mark Steacy). Harlequin Seelster, a daughter of Duke Of York-Hollywood Beauty, won for the first time in three seasonal starts for owners Parkhill Stud Farm and Ken Andrews of Peterborough, and Betty Bax of Kitchener, ON.
Favourite Oaklea Sydney was the leading lady in the next division, trotting away by 3-3/4 lengths to score her first OSS victory in 2:02.2 for driver Scott Coulter and trainer Paul Reid. Longshots Dekorra (Dan Clemmer) and Dancing Slippers (Paul Walker) followed in second and third. Scott Maracle of Brantford, ON owns the daughter of Oaklea Julian-Carscot Lou, who is now two-for-two in 2010.
The final division went to Southwind Sydney, who was in a league of her own. She hustled away reaching the first quarter in :27-seconds with a 14-length lead and by the half in :56.3 her nearest rival was 27 lengths in arrears. Three-quarters was timed in 1:27.4 with Southwind Sydney still dominating by 20 lengths but her lead dwindled to 6-3/4 as she coasted across the wire in 2:00.3. Sooner Than Later (Trevor Ritchie) and J M Gold Digger (Trevor Henry) finished second and third.
Robert Shepherd guided the Kadabra-Southwind Sabina filly, who was unraced at two, to her third consecutive win in four starts. Kevin O’Reilly trains Southwind Sydney for Chris Ryder of Allentown, Alycon Stable of Brigantine and Sidney Korn of Monmouth Beach, New Jersey.
Sophomore trotting fillies will head to Hiawatha Horse Park for the next set of Grassroots on June 10.
To view Wednesday's results, click here.