Two-year-old colt and gelding trotters were in the spotlight on Saturday night at Georgian Downs as five $18,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots Series divisions for freshman colt and gelding trotters went behind the starting gate.
Hemi Seelster (Steve Byron) was the fastest of the five winners as he trotted a :29.1 final quarter to rally from sixth at three-quarters to a 2:00.4 decision in the third division. He defeated Win The Day (Trevor Henry) by three-quarters of a length with Tarot (Riina Rekila) back in third.
It was the first win in two starts for Hemi Seelster, who is trained by John Bax for his Parkhill Stud Farm, Matthew Bax, and Goin To The Show Stable of Peterborough along with John Houston of Cobourg, Ontario. Sired by Holiday Road, Hemi Seelster was bred by Seelster Farms Inc. of Lucan, Ontario, and sold for $19,000 at last year’s Forest City Yearling Sale. His dam is Hollywood Beauty, who is by Angus Hall.
Sire Muscle Mass had a pair of winners as well as Benvenuti won the second race in 2:02 with trainer Eddie Green also handling the driving, and Call Me Richard won the final OSS Grassroots test in 2:01 with Scott Coulter doing the driving for trainer Clare Bradshaw.
Benvenuti, who is out of the Balanced Image mare Oaklea Ginny, is owned by Kristine Green of Ohsweken, Ontario. The colt, who was bred by Oaklea Farm Inc. of Simcoe, Ontario, and brought $9,000 at the 2013 Canadian Yearling Sale, won for the first time in two career tries.
Andrea Arthur of Scotland, Ontario, owns Call Me Richard, whose dam is Andover Hall mare Olympic Dreams. Call Me Richard, who also broke his maiden in his second trip to the track, was bred by Tri Star Farms Ltd. of Brantford, Ontario, and was hammered down for $11,500 at last year’s Canadian Yearling Sale.
Also collecting OSS Grassroots hardware were:
- Numbers Game (Striking Sahbra-Too Fast For Math-Mutineer) in 2:01.1. He was driven by Mario Baillargeon for trainer Ben Baillargeon and owner Hutt Racing Stable of Paoli, Pennsylvania. Numbers Game was bred by Winbak Farm and sold for $5,000 at the 2013 Standardbred Horse Sale in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
- Mandeville (Majestic Son-My Charmer-Yankee Paco) in 2:01.1. Paul MacKenzie had the driving assignment for co-owner/trainer Wayne Langille of Harley and co-owner Brett Burleigh of Paris, Ontario. Mandeville was bred by Dr. John Brown of Granton, Ontario, and was purchased for $10,000 at last year’s Canadian Yearling Sale.
In addition to the on-track events, Georgian Downs also hosted their celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Ontario Sires Stakes on Saturday evening.
The next Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots Series event for two-year-old colt and gelding trotters will take place on July 21 at Mohawk Racetrack. For full results and charts of tonight’s races, please click the following link: Saturday Results - Georgian Downs.
(OSS)