Mohawk Racetrack hosted the second Grassroots event of the season for the two-year-old trotting colts on Tuesday evening and both Ontario Sires Stakes trophies went home with first time winners.
The first $18,800 division saw Jula Downton, a winner in the July 8 Grassroots season opener, sent off as the fans’ top choice. As the starting gate pulled away from the field of eight, Smart Pick was out the fastest, reaching the quarter in :29.3. Delcrest Holiday, also a winner in the season opener, was on his heels, with Jula Downton third and Leaderofthepack fourth.
Smart Pick handed the lead over to Delcrest Holiday heading for the :59.4 half and the fan’s second choice rang up a 1:29.4 three-quarters. Jula Downton and Leaderofthepack started up the outside around the final turn, but as the colts entered the stretch the favourite skipped off stride, leaving Leaderofthepack with a clear view of the finish. The first-time starter found another gear and trotted under the wire one and one-quarter lengths ahead of a hard closing Stormont Ventnor and Delcrest Holiday in 1:59.4.
“He exceeded the expectations tonight, we thought he was okay, but he definitely exceeded what we thought he could do tonight, anyway,” said Ryan Holliday, who drove Leaderofthepack to the win for his father David and brother Ben Holliday, all of Mount Forest, Ont. “He got a nice trip, and he knew what to do actually when he got the room, so that was nice to see.”
The homebred son of Angus Hall and Kats Crown was scheduled to make his debut in the July 8 season opener at Georgian Downs, but developed an abscess in his hoof before the race and had to be scratched. After a brief rest to recover from the abscess, Leaderofthepack prepped for Tuesday’s test with a schooling mile at Mohawk on Friday, July 14.
“He was quite a bit better today than he was even the other day, so he’s going the right direction, that’s the main thing,” noted Holliday. “He was quite strong tonight at the wire, he’s very green yet, obviously, but he was well within himself.”
In the second Grassroots division trainer-driver Dagfin Henriksen and North And South enjoyed a near identical trip to the one that propelled Leaderofthepack to the winner’s circle. Also starting from Post 4, Henriksen and North And South dropped onto the rail in fourth, sitting behind fan favourite Say You Do, as second choice Radical Attempt rolled through fractions of :28.2 and :57.3. When Say You Do moved to the outside Henriksen sent North And South out in his wake and when Say You Do went off stride past the 1:29 three-quarters, North And South had an open lane to the finish. The fan’s third choice powered home to a one and one-quarter length win over pocket-sitter Speed N Glide in 1:59.3. Chief Justice closed hard to be third.
“It worked out perfect for him,” said Henriksen. “I was ready to pull on the right line just when Doug (McNair with Say You Do) made a break so I kind of had to wait a little bit, but he picked up the lines as soon as I asked him.
“It worked out perfect. Little bit of luck, you always need a little bit of luck with those baby races I find,” added the Cambridge, ON resident.
Henriksen shares ownership of North And South with Dr. Brett Anderson of Port Hope, Ont. and Kyle Anderson of Edmonton, Alta. The partners acquired the son of Southwind Lustre and Queen Nora for $10,000 at last fall’s Canadian Yearling Sale and Henriksen said the colt showed talent from his earliest lessons.
“At the sale he had an outstanding video, that’s kind of what sold us on him, his yearling video was just amazing, so that’s kind of why we figured he was worth a shot,” recalled Henriksen. “He’s been excellent; he hasn’t done a thing wrong. He’s been so light on his feet all winter. I never pushed him. It was the end of April, beginning of May, before I started kind of pushing him. He did everything by himself all the way up to then.”
North And South qualified twice at Mohawk in June, finishing third on June 15 and second on June 24, so Henriksen and his partners decided to test the colt in the July 9 Gold Series event at Georgian Downs. The colt finished seventh in the Gold contest, won by Fordham Road in 1:57.1, and his connections decided a shift in strategy was in order, a decision that paid off with Tuesday’s victory.
“I think we did the right decision in going to the Grassroots with him,” said Henriksen. “I’d rather have him as a really nice three-year-old than pushing him too hard this year.”
North And South and Leaderofthepack will have an opportunity to double the size of their win columns when the two-year-old trotting colts return to Mohawk Racetrack on August 3 for their third Grassroots test.
Next up on the Campbellville oval’s action-packed Ontario Sires Stakes schedule are the two-year-old pacing colts, competing in Gold and Grassroots action on Thursday, July 20. The Grassroots colts will square off in Races 1, 5, 6, 8, and 10, while the Gold level colts battle in Races 3 and 9. Thursday’s first race goes postward at 7:30 p.m.
To view the results from Tuesday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Tuesday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.
For the official judges' report from Tuesday's card, click the following link: Judges' Report - Mohawk - July 18.
(with files from OSS)