Shez So Striking heads to Flamboro Downs this Friday in a tie for ninth spot in the two-year-old trotting filly standings, and trainer Rod Boyd is hoping the youngster can add a few more points to her tally with a strong effort in the
fourth of six $24,000 Grassroots divisions.
Shez So Striking and driver Robert Shepherd of Cambridge, ON will make their bid for a top five finish from Post 5 in the sixth race on Friday; a spot Boyd believes will suit the Striking Sahbra daughter perfectly.
“That’s a great post. She’s not a real big leaver, she likes to come from behind,” notes Boyd. “I think Flamboro will suit her real well. She could come first up and be real competitive in there.”
Boyd shares ownership on Shez So Striking with his brothers Trevor and Jeff — all residents of Cambridge, ON — and all three have played a role in the filly’s training and preparation. Eldest brother Trevor gets credit for choosing the filly and placing the $11,000 bid that purchased her from the Canadian Open Yearling Sale last fall. Trevor also taught the filly her early lessons and treated her to a winter vacation at the Southern Oaks Training Center in Sorrento, FL.
Since her return to Ontario, Rod has handled Shez So Striking’s day-to-day care and training, and Jeff, a blacksmith, is in charge of all her shoeing and foot health needs. So far the siblings’ combined skills have helped the filly earn one third and one second in Grassroots competition, for a total of 37 Grassroots points and $8,880 in earnings.
“I didn’t know what would be worse, the three of us owning a horse together, or getting a trotting filly,” says Boyd wryly. “Me and Jeff have owned horses together, but not all three of us; there’s a lot of opinions.”
As Shez So Striking’s primary caregiver, Rod gets the final say in all decisions, a position of authority the 37-year-old is frankly enjoying.
“It’s about time too, because I’m the youngest brother,” he quips.
One thing the siblings found it easy to agree on was Shez So Striking’s barn name. Early in her training the easy-going filly was christened with the moniker Sabo in memory of a good friend that passed away when the brothers were children.
Boyd says the filly carries her honorary name with such grace on the racetrack that onlookers might mistake her for an older horse. Each morning driver Shepherd is quick to jump in the jog cart behind the novice trotter, simply because she is such a pleasure to work with.
“You’d think she was an old racehorse on the racetrack. Nothing bothers her at all,” says Boyd. “Rob Shepherd helps me out every day and he won’t even let me sit behind her anymore.”
The only area of her life where Shez So Striking causes her connections any grief is in the barn. Boyd calls her a little high strung and says they have learned to do things like trim her mane with scissors instead of clippers to maintain peace in the shed row.
In spite of Shez So Striking’s success in the July 14 Grassroots season opener at Grand River Raceway, and in the July 30 contest at Rideau Carleton Raceway, Boyd was not 100 per cent satisfied with her performance and has been tinkering with her equipment to attempt to make better use of the filly’s gifts. If he can find the right combination before Friday, Shez So Striking should be able to maintain her spot among the top 10 point earners.
Shez So Striking and her two-year-old trotting filly peers will battle for Grassroots points and purse money in Races 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 on the Friday evening card at Flamboro Downs, which gets under way at 6 p.m.
(O.S.S.)
To view Friday’s entries, click here.