Three divisions of the Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots were hosted at Woodbine Mohawk Park as freshman trotting fillies took the stage for the second leg of the series on Monday (July 31) evening.
Birthday Money posted the fastest time of the evening among the Grassroots divisional winners, winning by a half-length in 1:58.4.
Todd Ratchford and Birthday Money owned post seven in the field of nine going for $22,600 and they took early command, leading the field to the quarter in :29.2. Rhythm Of Life (Jonathan Drury) took over en route to the half in 1:00.1. By the three-quarters in 1:29.4, Birthday Money had fallen back to third, 6-3/4 lengths from the leader, as West River Ivory (Paul MacDonell) moved first over into second. With a little bit of clearance on the inside as they moved down the lane, Birthday Money maneuvered a victory by only a margin of a half-length. West River Ivory closed sharply to take second and Rhythm Of Life was third.
Matt Bax trains Birthday Money for her second win in three starts. Bax Stable and Marshall Bax co-own the Resolve-Parkhill Nocredit daughter. She paid $12.90 to win.
Odds-on favourite Flirty Dancer won her second race in three starts with Tyler Jones in the bike for Paul Reid.
Flirty Dancer drew post eight in the field of 10 young ladies as they went to the gate in the $23,000 division. Jones and Flirty Dancer got away in fifth, eight lengths off of the leading Tequila Sunset (Phil Hudon). After the first panel was clocked in :28.3, Flirty Dancer followed a second-over trip behind One Night In Paris (Drury) as they set their sights on the new leader, C Kan Trot (Scott Young) to the half in 1:01. One Night In Paris found a spot in second on the rail while Flirty Dancer was left to continue in the outer flow in third at the three-quarters in 1:31.1. Around the final turn, Flirty Dancer and C Kan Trot were neck-and-neck, but Flirty Dancer strode away to a fourth-length victory in 2:00. C Kan Trot was third, but placed second and One Night In Paris was fourth, placed third.
Brian Kleinberg, Richard Beinhauer and Paul Reid co-own the Lookslikeachpndale-Hola Lola filly. She paid $6.20 to win.
In the final $23,000 division of the evening, Sue Anne and Louis-Philippe Roy beat the bettors' choice by a head at the wire.
From the rail, Sue Anne ended up sixth, 10-1/2 lengths off of the leading favourite and pacesetter Tea Lake (Richard Zeron). As Tea Lake knocked out panels in 1:00.3 and 1:30.1, Sue Anne was on the outside, chipping away at the distance between herself and the leader. Down the stretch, a battle ensued between Sue Anne, Tea Lake and Gaming Queen (Travis Cullen). Sue Anne prevailed by a head in 1:59.1 over Tea Lake, who finished second with a head in front of Gaming Queen.
Eric Nadeau trains Sue Anne as she won her second career start and second OSS division in a new lifetime best time. Louis-Philippe Roy, Pierre-Luc Roy, Maude Larouche and Jean Allaire co-own the Muscle Mass-Dalliance Seelster daughter. She paid $10.20 to win.
To view Monday's harness racing results, click the following link: Monday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.