Grand River Raceway’s Industry Day celebration is inside of a month and the track has released the next segment of its Battle Watch, which tracks some of the standout Ontario-sired freshman colts and fillies eligible to start in the July 30th eliminations for the event’s feature races.
The Battle Of Waterloo is the marquee dash of Industry Day. There are 158 pacing colts still eligible for the elimination rounds. The top nine finishers will advance to the 15th annual race, which will featured a purse of $300,000.
Headlining the pack is Tarpon Hanover, now a Canadian seasonal record holder for two-year-olds, having paced a mind-boggling mile in 1:51.4. He destroyed his competition to the tune of a five length victory in the $130,000 Gold Final of the Ontario Sires Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack on July 6. Driven by last year’s Battle Of Waterloo winning driver, Scott Zeron, the Badlands Hanover colt came from off the pace and used a :28-second final quarter to earn him the lion’s share of the $130,000 purse. He’s a half-brother to Tarver Hanover ($829,919) and Tarpaulin Hanover ($614,437) and was an $82,000 Harrisburg Sale yearling purchased by trainer Dave Menary with Brad Gray, Bruce Norris and Denis Breton.
The fourth running of the $150,000 Battle Of The Belles has 167 eligible pacing fillies, many of which are already putting in impressive miles.
The Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final for two-year-old pacing fillies on July 6 at Mohawk Raceway went to Love Canal, by Badlands Hanover. The talented filly came from the middle of pack to cruise to a three length victory in an eye-popping 1:52.3, flying home in :27-seconds flat. She’s now two-for-two in her early career for trainer Tony O’Sullivan of Cambridge and owners Let It Ride Stables, Robert Cooper Stables and J & T Silva Stables.
To view the Battle Watch reports for the Battle of the Belles and the Battle of Waterloo, click on their respective links.
Grand River Raceway’s 22nd annual Industry Day celebration is an afternoon event (post time 1:30 p.m.) on the Civic Holiday Monday (August 6).
(Grand River Raceway)