Two-year-old pacing colt Blue Bar continued his perfect Ontario Sires Stakes campaign, holding on by a nose in the third leg of the Grassroots Series on Saturday, Aug. 17 at Hiawatha Horse Park.
Owned and bred by Travis Cullen, the All Bets Off colt out of his Alberta champion mare Feelin Flush has won all three of his $20,000 Grassroots starts to lead the divisional point standings.
With Travis Henry picking up the catch-drive for the Sarnia start, Blue Bar looped to the lead around his main rival, Grin And Win (Tyler Moore), after a :27.1 opening panel and set middle splits of :58.3 and 1:27.2 before holding off the early leader at the wire for the 1:56.3 victory over a sloppy track rated three seconds off. Hide The Wick and Samuel Fillion finished 1-3/4 lengths behind in third off a ground-saving trip.
Jodie Cullen trains the winning rookie, who sports a seasonal summary reading 3-1-1 from seven starts and has earned $37,509 thus far in his career. A Battle of Waterloo starter last time out, Blue Bar was sent postward as the 3-5 bettors' choice and paid $3.20 to win.
Jason Ryan picked up a pair of live catch-drives for a stakes double with favourites Docs Buddy ($4.30), from the Nick Gallucci stable, and Sauble Wilson ($2.20), trained by Otis Hall.
Docs Buddy charged three-wide from the backfield to get by a stalled foe during the third panel and was a 1:56.4 winner by 1-1/4 lengths over pacesetter Sunsational (:26.4, :56.4, 1:25.3) and late closer Belmont Blazer. The Hes Watching colt, who was making his Ontario Sires Stakes debut after competing in the Kentucky Sire Stakes, has won half of his 10 starts and sports a six-figure bankroll for owner/breeder Dr. Andrew Roberts of Lexington, Kentucky.
Despite being parked from the start, Sauble Wilson wore down leader Tip Of Time (:28.1, :58.4, 1:26.3) for his 2-1/4-length victory, with Bettor Beast back in third. The homebed colt by Betterthancheddar is now three-for-five with $31,000 banked for owners Nasussito Racing Inc. and Sean Dunnett.
The fastest and final division of the night when to Aquinas Hanover in a career-best performance 1:55.2 over a track that was upgraded to 'good.' With the race fractions going in :26.4, :56.3 and 1:25.4, the Claude Cadieux trainee Aquinas Hanover and driver Justin Turcotte tracked cover heading to the backside and rallied three-wide past the duelling leaders, Thai Tour and Timer Passer, in the stretch for a mild 6-1 upset, paying $14.40 to win. Dropping from the Gold Series, the Bettors Delight gelding is now two-for-four and bumped his bankroll to $14,200.
The two-year-old pacing colts and geldings will meet again for the fourth leg of the Grassroots Series on Aug. 30 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
In a lone $8,000 division of the Prospect Series or two-year-old filly trotters that opened the Saturday card, the front-striding Sweet Swirl scored a maiden-breaking victory in 2:04.4 by 3-3/4 lengths with Anthony Haughan catch-driving for trainer Don Lindsey and owner Paul Lindsey. The daughter of Muscle Mass was making her fifth career start and following up top three finishes in two preceeding legs of the series.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Hiawatha Horse Park.
(Standardbred Canada; Photo of Blue Bar [inside] winning at Hiawatha Horse Park on Aug. 17)