Track record holder Grit N Grace hadn't found the winner's circle at The Loop since that victory in the first leg of the Silk Lace on Aug. 17. The second leg of the Silk Lace on Sept. 14 was a repeat of the first.
The $7,617 Silk Lace second leg featured the same five fillies as the first leg, and those fillies almost finished in the same order in both instances. Dean Rey sent second choice Grit N Grace to the front from post three — just like he did in the first leg — and the filly found those front-end confines to her liking. She sped through fractions of :29.2, 1:00.2 and 1:31 with more than three lengths to spare over loose pocket-sitting stablemate Chasin Rainbows (Richard Remillard). With a :29.3 final quarter, Grit N Grace fended off favoured Choozetocruise (Don Howlett) by nearly two lengths for the 2:00.3 score. Chasin Rainbows completed the top trio.
Grit N Grace (Im The Pied Piper - Dragonart) sports an admirable 5-2-1 summary from nine sophomore / lifetime outings with $24,614 in earnings. She paid $5.90 to win.
The filly is trained by her breeder and owner, Lorraine Rey of St. Claude, Man., who enjoyed a solid afternoon at the office. Grit N Grace was one of three wins on the day for Rey as a trainer and as an owner. Her natural hat trick started in the race prior to the Silk Lace with Supa Fast (2:01; $2.90) and concluded in the race following the Silk Lace courtesy Mach Jacobs (2:00.3; $3.90). All three winners were guided to victory by Dean Rey.
After the conclusion of Saturday's card, Lorraine Rey's 2024 training numbers stand at 8-8-3 from 27 starts with a 0.497 UTRS and $46,928 in earnings.
Last week, no one placed a win ticket on Lookinlikeamillion and the sophomore gelding made a statement by setting a track record in the Manitoba Futurity. This week, in the second $7,653 leg of the MSSBA Golden Boy, he was sent off as the 2-5 favourite and delivered another track record effort.
Remillard settled Lookinlikeamillion into fourth early as Cartoon Kid (Marc Fillion) showed the way to the wire. After a :29.4 opener, Lookinlikeamillion started the other flow and attacked Cartoon Kid first over through middle splits of 1:00 and 1:30. Cartoon Kid started to get some separation down the backside, but around the far turn Lookinlikeamillion started to regain some ground to make it a two-horse race to the wire. In the final strides, Lookinlikeamillion pushed past the pacesetter and hit the wire three parts of a length the best. The time of the mile was a lifetime best 2:00.2, shaving three-fifths of a second off his own track standard. Tough Crowd (Howlett) completed the triactor ticket
Tara Isman trains and co-owns Lookinlikeamillion (Armbro Baylor - Untold Millions) along with Manitobans Dr. Valerie Isman and George Isman along with Garett Isman of Calgary, Alta. The win was the sixth lifetime for Lookinlikeamillion, now with $32,274 in earnings. He returned $2.80 on a $21 win wager.
For the results from Saturday's card of harness racing in Manitoba, click the following link: Saturday Results - The Loop.
(Standardbred Canada)