Three-year-old trotting colts headlined Hiawatha Horse Park's Canada Day card of harness racing as they faced off in three $19,150 Grassroots divisions of the Ontario Sires Stakes on Saturday evening.
Entering the race off a 1:58.2 nose victory in the trotting colts' June 6 season opener at Mohawk Racetrack last weekend, Rose Run Speedster notched his second straight Grassroots victory as he fired out to the lead from post seven in Saturday's first division and never looked back with catch-driver Mike Whelan along for the ride. The Windsong Espoir-Pandam Hall colt carved out fractions of :27.4, :59.3 and 1:29.4 before opening up four and three-quarter lengths en route to the 1:59.2 triumph for trainer Rene Allard and his partners in the Rose Run Speedster Stable of Guelph, Ont. Motown Jackpot (Bob McClure) finished second and Upvote Hanover (Per Henriksen) was third.
“We’re pretty happy to see him returning to form,” co-owner Anthony MacDonald said of Rose Run Speedster, a two-time Gold winner at age two. “We had some good luck with him last year and he really helped put thestable.ca on the map. A lot of owners new to the game in 2016 are very happy right now, and that’s good for the industry.”
Clarion Hall gave Team Allard a Grassroots double later on winning the evening's third and final division. Driven by Whelan for Allard and co-owners Yves Sarrazin of La Presentation, Que, and Earl Hill Jr. of Ohsweken, Ont., the Windsong Espoir-Canland Hall colt emerged with the lead after an early tussle through a :27.3 quarter and rebuffed the parked out Themanofmydreams (Denis St. Pierre) through middle splits of :58.1 and 1:28.1 en route to a three-length win in 1:58.4. Santini (Nick Steward) followed in second and Tougher Than Ever (Per Henriksen) came on for third. Also a Gold champion at two, Clarion Hall won his first OSS test of his sophomore campaign.
Dontcrampmystyle earned his first Grassroots victory for the hot Mark Steacy stable, which had three winners during this afternoon's three-year-old trotting filly contests at Dresden Raceway. Alfie Carroll drove the Muscle Mass-Single Pans Reflex, who is owned and was bred by Glenview Livestock Ltd. of Wallenstein, Ont. The duo cleared insider Addycor Royal (Nick Steward) with Jayport Buddy (Steve Byron) pressing on from post six past the :28.2 quarter. Addycor Royal was on the move approaching the :58.4 half while the leader began to open up three lengths on top to the third quarter in 1:29. However, Dontcrampmystyle emerged from the pocket in the stretch to win in a new lifetime mark of 1:59.3 by three-quarters of a length over Jayport Buddy, with Enchanted Mission (J.B. Renaud) closing inside third.
“We picked him up in the spring and he’s had issues which we have been working on,” said Steacy. “He always tries hard and seems to be getting healthier.”
The next Grassroots leg for the sophomore trotting colts is scheduled for the afternoon of July 9 at Clinton Raceway.
In addition to the exciting on-track action Hiawatha Horse Park fans enjoyed red velvet Canada Day cupcakes and giveaways including Ontario Sires Stakes ball caps and Ontario Racing flip-flops. Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey presented the Grassroots winners with their trophies and enjoyed the Canada Day festivities with the Hiawatha fans.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Hiawatha Horse Park.
(With files from OSS)