Arthur resident Wayne Henry enjoyed a successful evening at Hanover Raceway on Saturday, piloting three of his five freshman trotting filly contenders to Grassroots
glory.
Henry posted his first victory of the evening in the second $24,000 Grassroots division, cruising along on the front end with Velten Ladolcevita to a 2:02.2 score. Dry Tears (Ross Battin) finished two and one-quarter lengths back of the leader, with The Anointed One (Dale Fritz) 11 lengths to the rear in third.
Velten Ladolcevita started her two-year-old campaign in the Gold Series program at Grand River Raceway, but has found her niche in the Grassroots. She posted her first Grassroots victory at Hiawatha Horse Park on August 13, and made it two in a row with Saturday’s victory. The Henry Stable of Arthur owns the talented Ken Warkentin daughter.
Henry was back in the winner’s circle after the sixth race, engineering a perfect pocket trip for Charming Way, who stepped out around the final turn and sprinted home to a four length victory over fan favourite Pondo Mazey (Ross Battin) and Onehallofawoman (Trevor Henry). The Angus Hall daughter’s 2:01 clocking was the quickest of the eight Grassroots divisions.
Like her stablemate, Charming Way made her debut in the Gold Series program at Grand River and then moved into the Grassroots in time for the August 13 event at Hiawatha Horse Park where she finished fifth. Saturday’s victory was the filly’s first in three starts, and boosted her lifetime earnings to $18,972 for owners James Laverty of Sauble Beach and the Henry Stable.
A front end tour of the Hanover oval behind Daylon Mission in the ninth race completed Henry’s hat trick. The two-time Gold Series starter captured her first lifetime victory with a 2:04.2 effort, finishing two lengths ahead of runner-up Bertos Angel (Doug Brown). Orillia Barbie (Keith Jones) was nine lengths back in third.
Dan McCann of Parkhill shares ownership with the Henry Stable on Daylon Mission, who finished second in her July 13 Gold elimination at Grand River, but failed to crack the top three in the July 20 Gold final or the August 3 Gold elimination at Mohawk Racetrack. The Amigo Hall lass now has one win and one second in five starts for earnings of $24,000.
Three other multi-tasking trainers also piloted their young charges to Grassroots victory on Saturday. Mark Steacy and J M Annie were 2:02.3 winners in the fourth race, which saw the Angus Hall miss deliver a gritty effort up the outside to best Tymal Tiara (Doug Brown) and Northern Kitti (Bruce Richardson). Steacy trains the filly for Landmark II Racing Stable of Elginburg, David Reid of Glenburnie, George Judson of Athens and David McDonald of Cornwall.
Hall of Fame horseman Ron Waples of Guelph engineered a 2:05.1 victory for Photogenic Filly in Race 8, sailing under the wire two lengths ahead of Too Fast For Math (Paul Walker) and Tortes Finale (Trevor Henry). The win was the second in Grassroots action for the Waples Stable Inc. homebred, a daughter of Malabar Maple and Putin On The Ritz.
Finally, trainer Lyle MacArthur wrapped up the Grassroots program with a 2:01.4 victory aboard Taco, who got a nose in front of fan favourite Canada Cool (Mark Steacy) at the wire. Third-place finisher Daria Hall (Doug Brown) was only a neck back of the leaders in the thrilling finish. MacArthur trains Amigo Hall daughter Taco for Anne Shunock of Dorchester.
The other Grassroots divisions went to Striking Bella (Ross Battin) in 2:03.4 and Habanero Honey (Brad Watt) in 2:05. The two-year-old trotting fillies make the fourth stop on their Grassroots tour at Rideau Carleton Raceway on September 18.
Saturday’s contest wrapped up Hanover Raceway’s 2009 Ontario Sires Stakes season, which also saw exceptional performances from the two and three-year-old pacing fillies.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click here.