Grand River Raceway’s Industry Day Celebration is just a month away, and the track has released the first of four weekly reports tracking some of the standout Ontario-sired freshman colts and fillies eligible to start in the July 30 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 be contested for $300,000.
Headlining the pack is Tarpon Hanover, a three-length winner in his Ontario Sires Stakes elimination at Mohawk Racetrack on June 29. Steered by last year’s Battle of Waterloo winning driver, Scott Zeron, the Badlands Hanover colt came from off the pace to win by three lengths in 1:52.4. 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.
Menary won the Battle of Waterloo in 2010 with Prodigal Seelster in a stake-record time of 1:53.2.
The fourth running of the $150,000 Battle of The Belles has 167 eligible pacing fillies, and last year’s winning trainer is vying for a repeat performance.
Mary Celeste wired the field in 1:56.2 in an OSS event at Mohawk on July 1. Bred, owned and trained by Stephen and Marilyn Gillard of Tavistock, Ont., Mary Celeste is sired by Your Nemesis (winner of the 1998 Battle of Waterloo) and out of Lucky Call, who have also produced Call Me Yours ($406,200) and Classic Call ($109,597). The Gillards captured their first Battle of the Belles in 2011 with Your Beautiful.
To view both Battle Watch reports in their entirety, click here.
Grand River Raceway’s 22nd annual Industry Day Celebration is an afternoon event (first-race post time 1:30 p.m.) on the Civic Holiday Monday (August 6).
(GRR)