The Ontario Sires Stakes' two-year-old trotting fillies will take their first steps down the Grassroots trail on Sunday evening at Flamboro Downs
, as they will be competing in six divisions worth a total of $144,000.
Trainer Rick Zeron will start two fillies in the season opener, and the Oakville, Ont. resident is hoping to know a little more about Royal Crown and Tymal Teegan on Monday. The fillies arrived in his barn earlier this month and he has not had much time to tinker with them.
“We’re just going to kind of get a feel for them,” Zeron noted. “I’ve tinkered a little bit with their shoeing, but I didn’t do a whole lot.”
Both fillies are owned by Cambridge resident Terry Hunter, and both fillies were modest purchases as yearlings — Royal Crown for $1,900 at the Fall Extravaganza Sale and Tymal Teegan for $7,000 at the Forest City Yearling Sale. Both fillies will make their provincial debut from Post 4 on Sunday, Royal Crown in Race 2 and Tymal Teegan in Race 3.
Zeron qualified Tymal Teegan on July 5, steering the Angus Hall lass to a runner-up finish in 2:04.1 over the Mohawk Racetrack oval, and expects her to improve with time and experience.
“She’s a nice filly, a little warm — she’s an Angus Hall,” he noted. “She needs to calm down a little bit and learn to focus.”
James MacDonald qualified Royal Crown on June 11 at Mohawk, teaming her to a third-place finish in 2:02.3, and started her in a June 22 overnight at Flamboro. Unfortunately, the Amigo Hall miss made an early break in her debut and was never part of the action.
“She’s a nice filly, but I really haven’t done a lot with her,” Zeron said about Royal Crown.
“I spoke to Terry (Hunter) and we agreed to race in the Grassroots so I could see what I think, see what we need to get tinkering with,” he added. “If they’re Gold fillies, we can go in there next time.”
Only a handful of fillies have a start under their belt heading into Sunday’s season opener, meaning Flamboro Downs will be a testing ground for most of the youngsters. The two-year-old trotting fillies will show off their skills in Races 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10. The first race of the Sunday evening program will roll in behind the starting gate at 6:00 p.m.
To view entries for Sunday's card of harness racing at Flamboro, click the following link: Sunday Entries - Flamboro Downs.
(OSS)