Woodbine Mohawk Park will feature eight Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots Finals on Saturday evening (Sept. 30) with each showcasing a $75,000 purse.
Ten sophomores take the track in the seventh race for the OSS Grassroots Final for three-year-old pacing fillies and Grassroots leaders Twin Delight (pictured above), Century Jamila and Sweetest Belle will face off for the ultimate title and bragging rights.
Twin Delight will leave from post nine with Bob McClure holding the lines on one of four Shawn Steacy trainees that have drawn into the race. The daughter of Bettors Delight and the Sportswriter mare Twin B Cheeks has had six starts in the Grassroots Series with five wins and a second, including an 11-1 upset victory in the semi-finals.Twin Delight finished second to Grandeur Seelster in her freshman OSS Grassroots Final. This season, the filly tops all Grassroots leaderboards with 275 points in her division.
In addition to post four starter Kuper Trooper (Tyler Jones) and post five starter Dance With Tabby (Jonathan Drury), Steacy sends Century Jamila (Sylvain Filion) to the track in post six. The daughter of Bettors Delight sits second on the leaderboard. Sweetest Belle rounds out the top three on the leaderboard for the sophomore pacing fillies and get the inside post as one of two Susie Kerwood students in the final. Jody Jamieson picks up the drive on Sweetest Belle.
Winmebak, divisional point leader and a winner of his semi-final, drew post two in the OSS Grassroots Final for sophomore pacing colts and geldings. McClure gets the nod for the Nick Gallucci trainee, who posted a three-length 1:51 triumph in last week's race. The Shadow Play gelding has regularly stopped the timer in sub-1:51 miles this season, including two career-best 1:50 miles. Last year, Winmebak swept the Harvest Series for Ontario-sired freshmen, including the $48,700 final.
Post six starter Palladium Hanover earned his career-best mark in the semi-finals. The team of driver Travis Cullen and conditioner Jodie Cullen send the Artspeak gelding to the final in race 10. Finishing second to Palladium Hanover in the semi-finals and sitting third in the ranks is post three starter Ahi Sunshine. To be driven by Drury, the Sunshine Beach gelding is one of two Steacy trainees in the division for the sophomore pacing males. Steacy also sends out post four starter Tignanello (All Bets Off) with Tyler Jones in the seat.
Three-year-old fillies are first up for the sophomore trotters and Smashin Racquets draws the rail after a 1-3/4-length triumph in 1:55 in the semi-finals. Kyle Fellows and McClure team up with the daughter of Resolve and the Muscles Yankee mare Princess Serena in the final in race six. Smashin Racquets outranked her opponents with a 35-point lead on second-place Northern Charlotte in the divisional standings after she posted three wins and a fifth in four Grassroots starts. Her career-best mark of 1:54 was earned on Sept. 15 at Mohawk.
Fellows drew both inside positions as Cardio Muscle and Drury take post two in the final. The daughter of Muscle Mass will be looking for her first OSS score. Northern Charlotte (Muscle Mass) drew post nine in the final for Camilla Christoforou. Paul MacDonell picks up the catch-drive on Northern Charlotte as Chris Christoforou opts to stick with Pretty Special, another Camilla Christoforou trainee, from post seven. Pretty Special (Resolve) ranks third on the leaderboard with two wins from three starts this season in the series.
In the male division, Resolve To Win outranked his sophomore trotting opponents with a 3-2-1 tally in six Grassroots attempts. Trained by Matt Bax, the post eight starter and son of Resolve has posted his career-best season this year with a record of 5-4-2-1 in 12 starts and a new mark of 1:53.2. He posted a 1-1/2-length victory in the semi-finals in 1:54.4, seeking redemption after last year's miss at the finals. Scott Young gets the call to drive.
Bax doubles in finals starters as Deadline Hall (Muscle Mass) will be driven by Chris Christoforou from post four. Deadline Hall sits third in the leaderboard behind New Rules. The Marcel Barrieau pupil New Rules (Lookslikeachpndale) and Austin Sorrie drew the far outside in post 10. He won his semi-finals division and posted his lifetime mark of 1:53 the week before. Of his five starts in the Grassroots this year, the three-year-old gelding has won four of them.
Two-year-old trotting fillies kick off the stakes action and the freshman races in race two on the card. Chart-topper Flirty Dancer and Scott Young enter post seven. With four wins and a third in the series, the Paul Reid conditioner tops her field of 10 challengers. The Lookslikeachpndale filly boasts open-lengths victories with her most recent win a three-length achievement in a career-best 1:57.1 for the semi-finals.
Second in the ranks, Birthday Money enters post six for trainer and driver Matt Bax. The daughter of Resolve has three wins from seven starts with a mark of 1:58.4. P L Rachel broke through the ranks to prevail by a nose in 1:57 in her semi-finals division. The Muscle Mass daughter is trained by Matthew Dupuis and will be driven by Filion.
Two-year-old colt and gelding trotters are headlined by the rail-drawn Bruce MacDonald trainee, Northernchancellor. The two-year-old Muscle Mass gelding led for most of the race in his semi-finals division, but was bested by a head at the wire in 1:57.2. His own career mark of 1:59.2 was earned in early September at Georgian Downs. In six starts in the Grassroots Series, Northernchancellor has earned his way to the top of the leaderboard with a 33-point advantage, missing the board in only one start. His regular driver, Sorrie, will take the lines in the final in race four.
Nzuri (Muscle Mass), who drew post 10, rallied off a break at the start in the semi-finals and maneuvered through traffic throughout the race to beat Northernchancellor in the final steps at the wire. Trevor Henry will drive the Paul Walker trainee in the final. Post three starter Ways N Means (Muscle Mass) is second in the standings behind Northernchancellor and shows a mark of 1:57.4 from his two wins. He gets his chance at victory with Paul MacDonell in the bike for Michael Keeling. Only one point behind Ways N Means, R No Mercy (Alarm Detector) drew post eight in the final with Travis Cullen in the seat for Gregg McNair.
In the pacing division for the young ladies, post five entrant Tribal Dancer leaves from the center of the wings with Jody Jamieson piloting the Sunshine Beach freshman filly for Melissa Lamoureux. The filly earned her career mark of 1:52.2 on Sept. 11. She tops the leaderboard with three wins from six starts in the Grassroots Series.
McClure and Bonitas Best Bet (All Bets Off) will settle into post six as one of two David Menary trainees entered in the freshman pacing filly division. With four wins, four seconds and a fifth place in nine starts, Bonitas Best Bet has not missed a cheque. She has a lifetime mark of 1:53 and finished second in the semi-finals by a length in 1:52.3. Menary also sends How Much (All Bets Off) to the final in post seven. A winner of her semi-finals split, Greatest Pleasure (Bettors Delight) takes post three with Chris Christoforou driving for Luc Blais. She sits third in the ranks with three wins from four Grassroots starts.
Freshman pacing males take off in race eight with a solid field of 10 entries. D A Mcdreamy yielded the greatest amount of points (212) among his competitors from three wins, two seconds and a third in six Grassroots starts. Steacy trains the two-year-old son of McWicked and the Sportswriter mare Sports Beauty as he enters post seven with Young picking up the catch-drive. His career mark was posted in late August of this year and equalled as he paced the equivalent in his second-place finish in the semi-finals.
Jamieson had his choice between D A McDreamy and post two starter T H Mcmurry, opting to drive the latter. The son of McWicked and the Million Dollar Cam mare Waasmula earned four wins from six starts, placing him third in the rankings. Trained by Jeffrey Taylor, the gelding has a career-best time of 1:51.2, earned in late August. He has won three of his last three starts, all Grassroots divisions. Steacy's second entry in the field of 10 is second in the ranks. Unrivaled Hanover (Bettors Delight) shows one win and four seconds from five starts. He finished second to T H Mcmurry in the semi-finals. Drury will drive the post nine starting Unrivaled Hanover.
To view Saturday's harness racing entries, click the following link: Woodbine Mohawk Park - Saturday Entries || Saturday Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).