Three Doors Down clocked the quickest of seven $20,000 three-year-old pacing colt Grassroots divisions at Hanover Raceway on Saturday, halting the teletimer in a sharp 1:55.2 and giving driver Scott Coulter a pair of victories
Starting from the trailing Post 8, Coulter settled the pacer in fourth as Star Reward and Box Car Billie battled to a :27 opening quarter. Box Car Willie took round one, and led the field to a :56.3 half, but Just A Suggestion was applying heavy pressure to the leader heading by the 1:25.4 three-quarters, and Coulter had Three Doors Down hot on that colt's heels.
The pair turned for home in first and second, but when Coulter asked Three Doors Down for another gear, the Mach Three son responded with a strong finishing kick that propelled him to a one length victory over Just A Suggestion (Tony Kerwood) second and third place finisher Plumb Duff (Ross Battin).
Carl Jamieson trains Three Doors Down for MC Trade Enterprises Inc. of Amos, Que., and has conditioned the gelding to a record of two wins, two seconds and two thirds in nine starts this season for a total of $27,494. Saturday's win boosted the gelding's point tally to 80, which ranks him fifteenth in the division standings with two regular season events remaining.
Scott Coulter also engineered a Grassroots victory for Auctioneer in the first $20,000 Grassroots split. Starting from Post 2, the reinsman sent Auctioneer straight to the front and the Astreos son rolled through fractions of :28.1, :58.3 and 1:28.2 on his way to a 1:56.3 victory over Yorkton Heights (Brad Watt) and Northern Ace (Bruce Richardson).
Ian Reid trains Auctioneer, who currently sits in a five-way tie for the last spot in the race for a Grassroots Semifinal berth. The winner of $63,084 is owned by Island Heat Stable of Guelph.
Among the colts tied for sixteenth with Auctioneer is Monster In Law, who delivered an outstanding late sprint to claim a 1:58 victory in the sixth race. Monster In Law, Castlecary Wildcat and Million Teen all circled around the stalling leaders to claim the top three Grassroots prizes.
Alfred Carroll engineered the victory for trainer Don Beatson of Granton and his partners Sandra and Ralph Pitt of Cargill and Kenneth Beatson of Toronto, Ont. Saturday's win was the Northern Luck son's sixth this season and boosted his earnings to $33,160.
Best Night delivered a gutsy performance in the eighth race to score his second straight Grassroots victory and leap into a tie for fifth spot in the point race. The Cammibest gelding and driver Stuart Sowerby jumped out to a two length lead in the early going, but had to battle hard against Alard Hanover through the second half of the race, hanging on by a neck at the wire to the 1:57.1 win. A Cam Fine Fella finished a length behind the duelling leaders in third.
Brian Felice trains Best Night for Lockewood Stables of Orangeville and Marianna Cancelliere of Palgrave, Ont. Through seven sophomore starts the gelding boasts a record of four wins and one second for earnings of $34,950.
The other Grassroots divisions went to KG Survivor in 1:55.3; Legal Litigator in 1:55.4; and The Life Boat in 1:56.3.
The three-year-old pacing colts make the second last stop on their Grassroots tour at Georgian Downs on Sept. 9, while Hanover Raceway fans look forward to the arrival of the three-year-old trotting fillies for their fourth Grassroots skirmish on Saturday, August 30.
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(With files from OSS)