BELLEVILLE, ON — Wayne Henry currently has a comfortable lead in the Johnston Cup race for the Ontario Sires Stakes’ leading trainer award and the Arthur resident could broaden the margin with a successful evening at Quinte Exhibition Raceway on Friday.

Henry will send out four two-year-old trotting fillies in the fourth of six regular season Grassroots events and all four are currently ranked among the top 16 point earners.

With a total of 83 points earned from one win, one second and one fourth-place finish in Grassroots action, Windsong Destiny sits second in the division standings and will be looking to add to her total from Post 6 in the fifth race on Friday.

“She’s not too bad off the gate, and she’s pretty steady on her feet,” says Henry, who trains and drives the Malabar Maple daughter for his partners in the Henry Stable of Arthur, father Ross Henry and brother Trevor Henry.

Windsong Destiny heads into Friday’s battle off a strong 2:03.3 victory at Kawartha Downs on Aug. 1.

Henry’s second starter, Odee Tijana, finished fourth in her Kawartha start, but the Royal Strength miss impressed her trainer with the come from behind effort that saw her hanging on the outside from start to finish.

“She’s come along pretty good. She raced good in Peterborough, she raced tough there,” says the trainer, adding that the filly will not get a great deal of benefit from Post 2 in Race 6. “She doesn’t have a whole lot of gate speed. She works herself up to her speed.”

Bred and owned by Virginia Odorico of Limehouse, Odee Tijana has been driven in all four of her starts by Trevor Henry. The pair recorded a win in the Grassroots season opener on July 4 at Georgian Downs and a runner-up finish in the June 24 Trillium Series at Sudbury Downs.

Powerline Mesa also impressed Henry at Peterborough, finishing second in a 2:01.3 mile and trotting more than three seconds faster than she had in her first three starts.

“She really impressed me there in Peterborough,” he admits. “I didn’t think she had that much. She really stepped her game up, really jumped ahead.”

Powerline Mesa will start from Post 5 in the ninth race and Henry says her level of success will likely be determined before the fillies arrive at the quarter mile pole.

“She should be all right, but it all depends on that first turn,” he says. “A lot of people make mistakes in that first turn.”

NGA Powerline of Brantford bred and own the striking chestnut daughter of Balanced Image, who has one win and one second to her credit through three Grassroots and one Trillium start.

Henry’s final starter is Tymal Francesca, who started her freshman campaign in the Gold Series before dropping down to pick up a win and a third in the July 19 and Aug. 1 Grassroots events.

“She is kind of a real nice filly. I should have actually jumped her to Ottawa (Gold Series) I thought, but I took four there,” reflects Henry, who conditions the Berndt Hanover miss for the Henry Stable, James Laverty of Sauble Beach and breeder Ron Waples of Guelph.

Although Tymal Francesca made a break in her most recent start, Henry says that equipment failure was to blame and does not expect to see the filly make another miscue at Quinte.

“She lost a toe weight at Peterborough in the first turn, that’s why she made a break,” he explains. “She should be able to handle that track. She’s pretty sure footed.”

Quinte Exhibition Raceway sends its first race behind the starting gate at 7:25 pm on Friday and the two-year-old trotting fillies quest for Grassroots glory will take place in Races 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10.

For complete entries please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/eblvlfr.html