Sophomore pacing fillies shipped into Sudbury Downs for three $20,000 Grassroots divisions of Ontario Sires Stakes on Saturday night and displayed some serious speed on a stakes-packed card.
extended her Grassroots win streak to three and jumped to the top of the three-year-old pacing filly point standings with an effortless front end victory in her $20,000 division.
In rein to Chelmsford resident Paul MacLean, Call Me Yours accelerated off the starting gate from Post 1 and was in complete control of the race from start to finish, cruising through fractions of :27.3, :57.1 and 1:27.1 before drawing away from the field to a two length victory in 1:57.1.
Longshot Doinsomethingright (Paul Cameron) delivered an impressive effort up the outside to claim the second prize in the $20,000 Grassroots contest, while Kingfishers Gypsy (Aaron Byron) was two more lengths back in third.
Before the third quarter pole, Tennessee Starlit (Travis Bowman) made a break and fell causing McKenna Sister (Cory Gaudet) and Armed And Fabulous (Jim Ritchie) to follow suit.
There was no word on the conditions of the horses or drivers following the accident, but Bowman did drive in later races.
If an update becomes available, Trot Insider will pass it on.
Call Me Yours has now earned three Grassroots trophies for owner, breeder and trainer Stephen Gillard of Tavistock. Through 13 sophomore starts the daughter of Your Nemesis and Lucky Call has amassed six wins, and two thirds for earnings of $64,000. With three Grassroots victories, the filly boasts a perfect score of 150 points in the race toward a post season berth, and sits alone at the top of the division standings.
Keystone Samurai also extended her Grassroots streak with a victory over the Sudbury half-mile on Saturday.
The Camluck miss and driver Michael MacNeill tucked in third behind fan favourite Keystone Mystique (Travis Bowman) as that filly carved fractions of :28.3, :58.3 and 1:28.3, and then made their way by the tiring leader around the final turn. On top by half a length at the top of the stretch, Keystone Samurai was a length up on A New Scentsation (Brad Watt) and Dangerous Mind (Michael Dowling) when she reached the wire, stopping the clock at 1:58.
Denfield resident Ray Bunn trains Keystone Samurai for his partners James Kelly of Ilderton, Ryan Steward of Denfield and Jackie McManus of London. The group has cheered their filly on to victory in both of her Grassroots outings. Through 11 starts Keystone Samurai boasts a record of six wins, three seconds and one third for earnings of $44,050. With 100 points, the filly now sits fifth in the standings with two regular season events remaining.
The other Grassroots division went to Slaley, who set her second straight track record with a 1:56 clocking, giving driver Paul MacLean the Grassroots double. Slaley and MacLean set the pace, and were able to hold off a fast closing Hally (Aaron Byron) in the stretch to score the three-quarter length win. OK Amelia (Richard Webb) rounded out the top three.
Gerrie Tucker of Montreal, Que. and Ian Fromowitz of Richmond Hill, Ont. share ownership on Slaley, who is trained by Bill Robinson. Through nine starts the Grinfromeartoear lass has six wins and one second for earnings of $41,340.
The three-year-old pacing fillies wrapped up the Sudbury Downs 2008 Ontario Sires Stakes schedule with their impressive performances on Saturday evening's program. The fillies make their second last Grassroots start on September 18 at Flamboro Downs.
Sudbury also hosted the third leg of the Young Guns Series and two $8,000 divisions were contested with Rush Rules picking up his second consecutive victory in the series.
The son of Scooter Scott made a three-wide move at the third quarter mark, which proved to be the winning decision for driver Michael MacNeill as he paced home in a new lifetime mark of 1:56.4.
Shaws Creek Spirit (Wayne MacLean) and Chasing Connor (Michael Noble) were second and third.
Rick Shakes trains the four-year-old gelding for Robert Truman of Harbor Springs, Michigan.
In the other division, Lenny Biscoe coasted to victory by two lengths in wire-to-wire fashion in a 1:58.4 clocking. The three-year-old D M Dillinger gelding beat out Billy Bert (Robert Coursol) and Fantasy Diamond (Darryl Munro) for the win.
Michael Sinclair handles the training duties for 1721009 Ontario Inc. of Sudbury, Ont.
In the $9,000 Preferred Trot, Armbro Edward picked up his second straight win with trainer Justin Turcotte aboard for the ride.
The four-year-old son of Balanced Image called the shots as he led the field through fractions of :28.2, :59.3 and 1:30.4 before sprinting home in :29 for the win in 1:59.4.
Donald Rankin (Paul MacLean) finished three lengths back in second and it was another three back to Paperscissors Rock (Michael MacNeill) in third.
The bay gelding made his 10th visit to the winner's circle. He has earned total of $76,430 for owner Norbert Haesen of Berlin, Germany.
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(With files from OSS)