INNISFILL, ON — After a five-week hiatus, Ontario Sires Stakes excitement returns to Georgian Downs on Saturday evening with nine Grassroots divisions for the two-year-old pacing fillies.
Joining the fillies who have been battling on the provincial scene all summer are a number of newcomers to the Grassroots ranks, including Lola J. Trained by Cookstown resident Pat Crowe, the Dexter Nukes daughter heads into her Ontario Sires Stakes debut off an impressive outing in a non-winners of one race event at Mohawk Racetrack on Sept. 2.
“She raced real big in her last start,” says Crowe. “Jack Moiseyev got off the cart and wanted to know if I was bringing her back. He said she was a monster.”
Lola J landed a fifth-place finish in the 1:56.1 mile that saw her sprint from ninth to fifth with a :27.4 final quarter. Since making her debut on July 24, Lola J has logged five starts and shown the kind of steady improvement that Crowe and co-owner Paul Jackson of Bobcaygeon were hoping for once they got their first glimpse of the filly’s talent last winter.
“She always showed she had some ability,” says Crowe. “And instead of rushing her we brought her along slow — and if she didn’t make it until she was a three-year-old, that was okay too.”
Lola J will start from Post 5 in the fourth race on Saturday, and Crowe says that he will hand the lines over to a catch driver for the second time in the filly’s career.
“I’m not going to drive her. I’ll put one of those young lads down on her,” says the 66-year-old horseman who trained and drove Hall of Fame horse Cam Fella to over $2 million in earnings in the early 1980s.
The filly’s performance on Saturday will help Crowe and Jackson determine her path over the coming weeks. The final regular season Grassroots event goes postward Oct. 16 at Sarnia’s Hiawatha Horse Park and the last Gold Series event will be contested at Mohawk Racetrack Oct. 25 and Nov. 1.
“If she races decent we’ll take her to Sarnia, and if she races real good we’ll take her to the Gold at Mohawk,” Crowe says. “That’s my plan right now, but that may change on Saturday.”
To earn a return trip to the OSS playing field Lola J will have to best a solid line-up of fillies in the fourth race, including Haleys Cam (Post 3) who will be looking to maintain her position in the top 16 heading toward the season ending Semifinal.
Georgian Downs sends its first race onto the racetrack at 7:30 pm on Saturday night, with the talented two-year-old pacing fillies dominating the program in Races 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10.