With the first half of the Prospect Series season in the books, competition is heating up for a spot in the finals at Grand River Raceway on Friday, Sept. 25.
Radical J J currently has an eight-point lead atop the two-year-old trotting filly division after a win at Grand River Raceway on Wednesday, Aug. 26. The daughter of Muscle Mass is trained by Shawn Steacy, who said the Prospect Series has offered a positive introduction to racing for the late-blooming youngster.
“She was a little slow getting started this year for us,” said Steacy, who conditions the filly for Ontario owners David Reid of Sydenham, A K Malik Stable of Ottawa, Carmen Chrysdale of Mississauga and Bruno Dipoce of Wasaga Beach. “So that’s kind of why we got her started just in the Prospect Series rather than the Ontario Sires Stakes right off the get-go.”
Although there have been a limited number of starters in the two-year-old trotting filly division through the first four legs, Steacy expects to see a few more heading to Flamboro Downs for the regular season finale on Sunday, Sept. 13.
“With the last legs coming up, you might see, rather than just getting five, six horse fields, you might get a couple eight-horse fields going in the last leg or two,” said the Brantford, Ont. resident, who leads all trainers in the Ontario Sires Stakes program. “It’s a good tool, I think, overall. I think [Ontario Racing] did a good thing by putting that in play.”
The Steacy stable also scored a second-place finish at Grand River Raceway on Wednesday with Teacup Hanover. With 25 points from her runner-up result and five points from entering a leg that did not fill, the Crazed daughter has a total of 30 points, 28 behind her division-leading stablemate. Hudson Standardbred Stable Inc. of Hudson, Que., Robert Macmillan of Waterloo, Ont., Bertrand Gilhespy Stable of Edmonton, Alta., and Dale Larson of Kent City, Michigan share ownership of Teacup Hanover, who has also made three starts at the Grassroots level.
The top nine point-earners from each division will battle for a purse of $15,000 in the Prospect Series Finals on September 25. Horses are only required to have entered one Prospect Series leg to be eligible for the final, but those that have participated at more than one level, like Teacup Hanover, can only compete in one final, either Prospect Series or Grassroots.
Click on the following links to view the Prospect Series' current point standings and schedule.
(With files from Ontario Sires Stakes)