BELLEVILLE, ON — Quinte Exhibition Raceway celebrates Victoria Day in style Monday as nine divisions of the top three-year-old pacing fillies compete for a total of $135,000 in Ontario Sires Stakes action.
Trainer Mark Steacy sends a pair of talented fillies after a share of the Grassroots lucre, with Casper drawing Post 7 in Race 5 and Cassidys Grin starting from Post 5 in the seventh race. Rustler Hanover daughter Casper heads into the event undefeated through two starts this season, but Steacy says the filly will be hard-pressed to maintain her flawless record from the difficult outside post.
“She’s done everything well within herself so far, there’s a lot more to her, but you need a lot of racing luck from the seven-hole at Belleville,” says the Lansdowne resident. “She’s got a little bit of gate speed, but that first turn comes up awful quick so she’ll have to come first up or race on the outside.”
Steacy shares ownership on Casper with David Reid of Kingston and David McDonald of Cornwall and the trio have been pleased with the filly’s progress this season. A $5,000 acquisition at the 2002 Harrisburg Yearling Sale, Casper displayed some ability at two, but saw her season cut short after suffering an injury in her first Grassroots start.
“I raced her a couple of times last year and she showed a lot, but she hurt herself in her first stake at Woodstock,” recalls Steacy. “She hurt her ankle and we had to stop with her.”
Fortunately the filly made a full recovery and Steacy and his partners are hoping she can make a name for herself on the Ontario Sires Stakes circuit this year.
While Casper’s talent was clearly evident last season, Cassidys Grin has been somewhat of a surprise for Steacy, Reid and breeder Michael Timpano of Orillia.
“She didn’t show a whole lot last year. She was very small and she had some problems,” says the trainer. “This year she is a little bigger and a lot stronger and sounder. She’s a nice, handy little filly.”
Cassidys Grin rides into Belleville with a record of three wins, two seconds and a third in seven starts, her only off the board finish coming in a May 7 event where she was stricken by a mysterious ailment called “the thumps.”
“She was breathing funny after the race,” says Steacy. “Somehow her electrolyte balance got out of whack so we had to hydrate her again.
“She bounced back in her last start (May 14) and she’s better this week, she trained good.”
Gord Brown will pilot both fillies for Steacy and his partners on Monday, getting his first ride behind Casper and second on Cassidys Grin.
Quinte Exhibition Raceway’s holiday Monday program gets under way at 1:30 pm with the three-year-old pacing fillies taking command of the matinee performance in Races 2 through 10.