This coming Monday night, two-year-old trotting filly Counter Pointe will be heading back to Grand River Raceway for an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold final, and co-owner Jeff Thomson is hoping her performance will not be impacted by his willingness to chat about her early season prospects.
“I hope this doesn’t jinx us,” the resident of Chesley, Ont. said with a nervous chuckle.
Thomson shares ownership of Counter Pointe with the Henry Stable of Arthur, Ont. and Dan McCann of Parkhill, Ont., and the partners have all their fingers crossed that the daughter of Striking Sahbra can replicate the effort she put forward in the elimination round. With trainer Wayne Henry in the race bike, the filly dominated her peers, sweeping home to a 12-and-one-quarter length victory in a track-record-equaling 2:00.4.
“We’re sure pleased with everything she’s done so far,” said Thomson. “We just hope she stays sound and healthy.”
Thomson and Henry own the filly’s half-brother, Pointe To Pointe, who earned $168,307 during his racing career, and the pair decided last fall that if they liked the look of his sibling at the Forest City Yearling Sale they would attempt to purchase her. Counter Pointe’s conformation appealed to the partners, and a $60,000 bid later they were signing their names on her ownership papers. Soon after, they brought McCann into the fold, and so far the group is enjoying every moment of the filly’s good fortune.
“It’s a good partnership because we all like to have a lot of fun,” said Thomson. “That’s why we got Dan in on her.
“And she cost too much for just Wayne and I, we needed some help,” he added with a laugh.
Thomson, who also trains three horses of his own, says Counter Pointe is different from her brother in terms of size and shape, but seems to share his ability. She will get her second lifetime test in Monday’s $130,000 Gold final, and Henry will steer her from Post 4 in Grand River Raceway’s ninth race.
“I hope she has a good race on Monday,” the horseman said. “She looks the part so far, but a lot can go wrong with these things.”
Thomson and his wife Lori, McCann and the Henry family will be on hand to cheer Counter Pointe home on Monday, watching her face off against a talented field of fillies, including Circles, the half-sister to last year’s freshman trotting colt division leader Buckhams Bay, who will be hampered by the outside Post 8. The other elimination winners, Witch Way and Destinys Magic, will line up at Posts 1 and 2.
Although she finished second to Counter Pointe in last week’s elimination, trainer-driver Rick Zeron is looking forward to the return trip to Grand River with Amigo Hall filly Dee Dee Pucker, who will start from Post 5.
“I’m ecstatic that she drew the five-hole,” said the Oakville resident, who conditions Dee Dee Pucker for Terry Hunter of Cambridge. “I think it’s the perfect spot for her, she’ll get towed into the race.
“And at the end of the race I think we’ll be getting a pretty good cheque,” he added, with confidence. “She’s a real nice filly.”
Post time for Grand River Raceway’s first race on Monday evening is 7:10 p.m., with the two-year-old trotting fillies taking a second run at the track record in Race 9.
To view entries for Monday's card of harness racing at Grand River Raceway, click the following link: Monday Entries - Grand River Raceway.
(OSS)