Two-year-old trotting fillies strutted their stuff in six OSS Grassroots divisions Tuesday evening at Georgian Downs, and the night belonged to trainer John Bax and driver Steve Byron.
That trainer/driver duo teamed up to score in a set of $18,000 divisions starting with Fiery Eyes. The Mr Lavec-Aimees Image miss fired to the lead from Post 7 and successfully chopped out panels of :30, 1:01.1 and 1:30.1 en route to the 2:00.4 score by 1-3/4 lengths. Tymal Illbethere was second, with Flexy Millie taking home the show dough.
Glengate Farms of Campbellville shares ownership on the homebred maiden-breaker with Parkhill Stud Farm of Peterborough, Ontario.
Railee Priti gave Bax and Byron their second trip to victory lane thanks to her 1:59.2 triumph later on the card. Railee Priti enjoyed a pocket trip behind National Trace through fractions of :29.3, :59.2 and 1:30 before angling out and using a :29.1 closing quarter to haul down that foe in 1:59.2. The margin of victory over National Trace was 2-1/2 lengths, with Summers Jewel another length back in third.
Ronald Mersky of Paris, Kentucky bred and owns the daughter of Muscle Mass-Railee Beautiful, who was impressive in pulling off the 9-1 upset.
D Espoir celebrated a stakes triumph of her own thanks to her narrow score in the opening division for trainer Dany Fontaine. Jody Jamieson tripped out the daughter of Windsong Espoir-Davallia and she responded with a 2:00.3 tally over Oh My Magic. Sylvia Van Hall rounded out the top three finishers in the $18,000 affair.
Sent off at odds of 6-1, the homebred bumped her overall cash stash to $9,990 for the partnership of Ecurie Gaetan Bono Inc of Montreal and Berto Stable of Montreal-Nord, Quebec.
Stay In Touch also notched her first-ever win thanks to a 2:01 score in her division. The daughter of Kadabra-Dial Nile survived a first-over journey for driver Scott Coulter en route to posting the one-length tally in 2:01. The 6-5 favourite, who hails from the barn of trainer Bob McIntosh, defeated Its A Hotty and Rite Outa The Park.
The homebred has produced a 1-1-0 record in her first two appearances for Robert McIntosh Stables Inc of Windsor, Ontario and C S X Stables of Liberty Center, Ohio. To date, the full-sister to Text Me (1:54.3 - $931,853) has stashed away $13,500.
Were Just Sayin parlayed a second-over trip into a 2:01.1 victory in her division for the tandem of driver Paul MacKenzie and trainer Wayne Langille. The daughter of Holiday Road-Stewpot Hanover charged off cover and stepped home in :29.4 to post the neck decision over race favourite Second Sister. Longshot Holiday Wreath was third.
Randall Crosby of Princeton, Dale Sparks of Woodstock, Terence Adamson of Harley and Jeff Adamson of Brantford, Ontario share ownership on the promising youngster, who was purchased for a mere $3,200 from last year’s Canadian Yearling Sale. She’s already managed to stash away earnings in excess of $11,000 for her connections.
Judy The Beauty was a front-stepping winner in her assignment for the duo of driver Bob McClure and trainer Keith Jones. The rookie rolled the field through intervals of :29.3, 1:01.1 and 1:30.3 before kicking home in a :30-second clip en route to winning by 1-1/4 lengths over Pinky The Intern in 2:00.3. Daylon Mermaid took home the show dough.
Sent off at odds of 5-1, the daughter of Muscle Mass-Northern Goddess prevailed for owner Randy Zhok of Dover Centre, Ontario. The $8,000 purchase from last year’s Blooded Horse Sale has already banked $11,160 in her first two outings.
To view results for Tuesday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Tuesday Results – Georgian Downs.