Woodstock Raceway is gearing up for its first Ontario Sires Stakes event of the summer this Saturday, July 19, rolling out the red carpet for five $20,000 divisions of two-year-old trotting fillies in their Grassroots debut.
Anahar Jillian will make the short trip to Woodstock from her home base in Harley for Saturday's contest, and co-owner William Nold is hoping the brief journey will translate into a successful Ontario Sires Stakes debut for the young trotter.
"She was a little nervous when she left home a couple of times," says the Norwich resident, who shares ownership on Anahar Jillian with trainer Wayne Langille of Harley.
The daughter of Oaklea Julian and Pretty Dashing qualified twice at Flamboro Downs in June and made her first start at the Dundas oval in a division of the Bud Light Stakes on July 6. While her second qualifier was flawless, the youngster made a break at the halfway point in her first qualifier and again at the start of her Bud Light division.
Anahar Jillian and driver Gord Rayner will be hampered by the outside Post 7 in Saturday's fourth race, but Nold knows all too well that there are no guarantees in a field of freshman trotting fillies.
"We're just hoping," says Nold, who has owned standardbreds since the early 1990's. "You never know what can happen."
Nold and Langille purchased Anahar Jillian at last fall's Canadian Open Yearling Sale, acquiring the half-sister to $205,940 winner Anahar Charlie for just $3,000. The filly was sensible to break and Nold says she has not presented any major challenges through the early stages of her career.
"We bought her at the Mohawk sale last September, we just liked her when we saw her," recalls Nold. "She's a good natured filly. She's a little nervous; you've just got to be careful with her."
Two of the other fillies in the third Grassroots division are also heading into the race off appearances in the Bud Light Stakes, while the other four will step onto the track straight from the qualifying ranks.
Local filly Paidmedorayme, owned by Fred Petersen of Springfield and Martin Hossack of Thamesford, will start from Post 4. Another daughter of Oaklea Julian, the Darryl Laver trainee heads into her Grassroots debut off a pair of qualifiers, the most recent a 2:05 mile at Hiawatha Horse Park.
The two-year-old trotting fillies will kick off their Ontario Sires Stakes season in the first race on Saturday, with the other four divisions going postward as Races 3, 4, 5 and 6. Woodstock Raceway's exciting summer stakes season gets underway at 1 p.m.
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To view Saturday's entries, click here.