Kawartha Downs fans made local filly Muscle Girl their top choice in the first $18,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots division on Saturday, July 6 and the trotting lass rewarded their faith with an impressive victory.
Driver Mario Baillargeon sent Muscle Girl straight to the front from post three and the filly controlled the fractions from start to finish, hitting the wire a half length on top in 2:02.3. Kevin Benn trainee Stormont Moonbeam finished second and Andrea Lea rounded out the top three for trainer Per Henriksen of Norwood.
Port Hope resident Ray Paquette trains Muscle Girl and the daughter of Muscle Mass and My Witch was bred and raised at his Cedar Valley Farms.
Celebrating his birthday, driver Steve Condren teamed up with trainer Bob McIntosh to score a pair of Grassroots wins on Saturday. Chelseas Chance won the second division with an impressive come-from-behind effort that saw her sail home to a one length win in 1:59.2, and Lenny Mac overcame an early break in stride to lead the third race field to a 2:02.1 clocking. Both fillies are by Kadabra and were bred by Windsor resident McIntosh and his partners.
Brighton resident Gord Brown engineered a win for Majestic Jewel in the final division, steering the Mark Steacy trainee to a 2:01.4 mile. The Majestic Son daughter was an easy one and three-quarter length winner.
The two-year-old trotting fillies make their second Grassroots start at Georgian Downs on July 13. Kawartha Downs fans will now have an opportunity to catch the province’s top three-year-old trotting fillies in Grassroots action on Saturday, July 20.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Kawartha Downs.
(With files from OSS)