SARNIA, ON — EL Leonard kicked off an impressive display by the two-year-old trotting colts with a 2:00.2 victory in the first of six Grassroots divisions at Hiawatha Horse Park on Thursday.
Leaving from Post 7, the Sugarcane Leonard son and driver Randy Fritz settled comfortably on the rail in fourth through the early going, clocked in :28.4 to the quarter and 1:00.1 to the half. Heading for the 1:30.1 three-quarters Fritz sent EL Leonard to the outside and the colt powered to the front, hitting the wire two and one-quarter lengths ahead of Lifes Victories and four and one-quarter lengths up on favourite Wheres Berndt.
Gary Bourgon trains EL Leonard for breeder Erkki Laakkonen of Georgetown and Thursday’s victory completed the triple for the young trotter. Through three starts he has one win, one second and one third for earnings of $15,702.
In the second Grassroots division Feeling Frazzled romped to an 11 and three-quarter length victory in his first lifetime start, stopping the Hiawatha teletimer at 2:01.3. In rein to trainer Raymond Kinney, Feeling Frazzled took control of the race heading to the three-quarters and never glanced back, cruising home in front of Meadowcroft Man and King La Conch.
William Roberts of Badaxe, MI owns Mr Lavec son Feeling Frazzled, who prepped for his Ontario Sires Stakes debut with an 11 and three-quarter length victory in an Aug. 6 qualifier at Saginaw Harness Raceway.
Kinney and Roberts came close to capturing a pair of Grassroots trophies, but had to settle on a runner-up finish from favourite Dominant Kemp when Northern Patriot sprinted down the stretch to a 2:01.4 victory in the eighth race.
Coming from well off the pace, Northern Patriot and driver Jim McClure powered home to a five and a quarter length win over Dominant Kemp and E L Speed.
The win was the second straight for Yankee Paco son Northern Patriot, who scored a 2:08 Grassroots victory over an off track at Hanover Raceway on Aug. 11 for trainer Mike Keeling and owners P C Wellwood Enterprises Inc. of Cambridge and Charles Armstrong of Brampton.
Also logging an impressive performance was Kenny Boy, who dropped down from the Gold Series and acquired trotting hopples to get the job done in the seventh race. Driver Jason Gale sat patiently on the rail in third while Armbro Count rocked through fractions of :27.3, :58.2 and 1:29.1, then trotted by the pacesetter down the stretch to score the half length victory in 2:00.3. Armbro Count finished second and Wind Berndt was 16 lengths behind the leaders in third.
Jimmy Takter trains Kenny Boy for breeders Christina Takter of East Windsor, NJ and Kenneth Ross of Pittsburgh, PA. The win was the San Pellegrino son’s first in three attempts.
The other Grassroots divisions went to Armbro Cameron in 2:02.1 and King Brent in 2:04.
The two-year-old trotting colts are back in Grassroots action on Sept. 25 at Georgian Downs, while Ontario Sires Stakes excitement returns to Hiawatha Horse Park on Thursday, Sept. 23 with Grassroots action for the impressive two-year-old pacing colts.