Kawartha Downs will be the site of the third Grassroots battle for the two-year-old pacing fillies on Saturday evening and trainer Kevin Benn is hoping Blue Angel Cam can hold her own against the Ontario Sires Stakes veterans in
the first $24,000 division.
Blue Angel Cam heads into her Grassroots debut off two strong outings over the Kawartha oval, the most recent a three and one-quarter length victory in 1:57.3 on August 21.
“She’s coming along quite nicely,” says Benn, who shares ownership on Blue Angel Cam with breeder Dennis Chadwick of Napanee, ON. “We are hoping she will develop into a nice horse, but time will tell.”
Benn drove the filly in two qualifiers at Kawartha Downs — on July 17 and 24 — then handed the lines over to Fraserville, ON resident Doug Hie for her first race. Hie will be back in the race bike on Saturday, sending the daughter of Camluck and $295,541 winner Blue Spock after a share of the Grassroots purse from Post 4.
“Doug Hie has been driving her, and he teaches a young horse well,” notes Benn. “And we drew good for Peterborough, so that helps.”
Although Blue Angel Cam qualified effortlessly, pacing to a 1:59.4 win in her first outing and a 1:57.3 runner-up finish in her second, Benn had mapped out a conservative career path for the young pacer and decided not to alter it in spite of the filly’s early achievements.
“I wanted to race her in Kawartha for a few starts rather than put her in where she might be over her head,” he explains. “And after her first qualifier and her first race she was off her feed slightly. She was still eating, but she wasn’t diving into it like she was training down, so we didn’t want to get into trucking her.”
The Napanee resident says Blue Angel Cam has regained her hearty appetite and seems to have adjusted to her new role as a racehorse. The veteran horseman hopes the filly’s easy-going attitude is a sign that she can achieve the same level of on-track success enjoyed by her mother, who won eliminations of the Fan Hanover and Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association Stakes at three, and her half-sister Northern Blue, a winner of $137,770 to date.
“Northern Blue races in Toronto all the time, she likes 1:53,” says Benn. “This mare is bigger and stronger than her. Northern Blue is a fiery little mare and this one is totally different. She is a little bit on the lazy side, and she has better manners.
“But she hasn’t made $100,000 yet,” he adds pragmatically.
Through two starts Blue Angel Cam has accumulated one win, one second and $4,950. She can add to that with a strong effort in Saturday’s second race, where she faces a tough field that includes former Grassroots division winners Pocket Of Gold (Post 1), Pindars Grin (Post 3), and The Big Macher (Post 5).
Division co-leaders Lyons Susan and Chappies Girl will go head to head in the fifth race on Saturday, with Lyons Susan starting from Post 3 and Chappies Girl getting Post 6. The other filly currently sharing top spot in the division standings is Lucky Taryn, who will square off against the sixth race field from Post 5. All three fillies have accumulated 75 points from one win and one second in the first two Grassroots events and will be aiming to add their tally on Saturday.
Post time for Kawartha Downs’ Saturday evening program is 7 p.m., and the two-year-old pacing fillies will show off their skills in Races 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7.
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(OSS)