DUNDAS, ON — Making his first start in the Ontario Sires Stakes program, Along Came Polly delivered an impressive performance at Flamboro Downs on Thursday to post the fastest mile in seven Grassroots divisions.
The Camluck colt and driver Jason Brewer opened with a :28 quarter and maintained control of the race through the :57.4 half and 1:27 three-quarters. On top by two lengths at the head of the stretch, Along Came Polly sprinted away to a four and a half length triumph in a smart 1:55.2.
Longshot St Lads Kingpin earned runner-up honours in the $15,210 contest and Daylon Hideaway was four more lengths back in third.
Rodney Duford trains Along Came Polly for owner and breeder Larry Pollard of Harrow. Scratched out of the season opening Gold Eliminations due to sickness, the colt made his first lifetime start at Hiawatha Horse Park on Aug. 19 where he scored an effortless 1:55.2 victory.
Eight races later Grassroots veteran Blatantly Good was equally impressive as he recorded his second Grassroots win and took over top spot in the division standings.
With regular reinsman Trevor Henry in the race bike, Blatantly Good took command heading by the halfway marker and proceeded to draw away from the eleventh race field with every step. At the 1:56 finish, the Albert Albert son was nine and a half lengths up on Quartz Seelster and 12 ahead of third-place finisher The Scalawag.
Glenview Livestock of Wallenstein own Blatantly Good, who improved his record to two wins, one second and one fifth in four Grassroots starts. With 130 points the colt currently sits five points ahead of Mach It Paid in the race for one of 16 berths in the Sept. 30 Grassroots Semifinal at Flamboro Downs.
A pair of local colts also jumped up the standings with victories over their hometown oval on Thursday. Deuces And Jacks logged a 1:56.2 score for Paris resident Donald Lowes in the sixth race and Wantasmile was a 1:57.1 winner in Race 8 for Antonio Chiaravalle of Hamilton.
Lowes owns and trains Deuces And Jacks, who has accumulated his 100 point total through one win and two seconds in Grassroots action. Mark Megens engineered Thursday’s triumph, which saw the Million Dollar Cam son overcome a trip up the outside to post the three and a half length win over favourite Themachmanprophecy and Scoundrel.
In contrast, Wantasmile led through all stations in the eighth race and held on for a half length win over Cuban Seelster and Hez Bo Diddy. Bill Elliott trains the Grinfromeartoear son and Scott Coulter piloted Wantasmile to his second straight Grassroots victory.
The other Grassroots divisions went to Don’t Fool Me Now in 1:56.3, Cantaffordanymore in 1:57.2 and The Grin Man in 1:58.1.
The two-year-old pacing colts wrap up their regular season at Dresden Raceway on Sept. 10 and then the top 16 point earners will return to Flamboro Downs for a pair of Grassroots Semifinals.
Ontario Sires Stakes excitement continues to build at the Dundas oval as the two-year-old pacing fillies gear up for their first Trillium Series event on Saturday afternoon.
For complete results please go to:
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rflmdth.html