CLINTON, ON — Two-year-old trotting colt Grogan delivered the kind of performance at Clinton Raceway on Sunday afternoon that his owners have been waiting for all season.
Leaving from Post 3 in the eighth of nine $15,000 Grassroots divisions, Grogan and trainer-driver Lorne House went straight to the front and laid down a flawless effort through fractions of :32.4, 1:04.4 and 1:35.1. The Angus Hall son sailed under the wire five and three-quarter lengths ahead of fan favourite Keystone Saint and 10 and a half lengths ahead of third-place finisher Halls Star.
Emerson Gill of Grand Bend bred Grogan and shares ownership on the colt with Graeme Harvey of Ingersoll and House, who makes his home in Dorchester. Through five starts the colt has amassed Sunday’s Grassroots victory and a third-place finish in the June 29 season opening Gold Eliminations at Kawartha Downs.
With 50 points in Grassroots action, Grogan currently sits 12 points below the cut off for post season action and will be looking for a top three finish in the last regular season event on Sept. 23 at Hiawatha Horse Park.
Oratorio stepped up with an exceptional effort at Clinton on Sunday to edge into the top 16. The Yankee Paco son and driver Mark MacDonald rocked around the Clinton oval to a 2:02.4 victory, just two fifths of a second off the track record for freshman trotting colts. The pair were 17 lengths ahead of runner-up Heir To The Throne and so far in front of third-place finisher Summerhill Duke and the rest of the field that the lengths were incalculable.
Todd LaPage trains Oratorio for Bryan LaPage of Brushton, NY. Through nine starts this season the colt has bounced from the Gold Series to the Serie Quebec Plus Elite to New York State fair racing, before finding his niche in the Grassroots. Sunday’s triumph improved Oratorio’s record to two wins, two seconds and two thirds for earnings of $18,402.
Trainer Gregg McNair had a successful afternoon at Clinton, acquiring three Grassroots trophies from the five colts he harnessed. The Guelph resident kicked things off in the first race when former Gold Elimination winner Blaze Of Sonshine ran down pacesetter Soscapitainemorgan in the stretch to claim a two and one-quarter length victory in 2:04.4.
Mike Saftic drove the Son Of Grace son to the win for McNair, who also bred the colt, and his mother Gwendolyn McNair of Walkerton. Blaze Of Sonshine emerged onto the provincial racing scene with a Gold Elimination victory in the June 29 season opener at Kawartha Downs and finished second in the Gold Final one week later. However, when the young trotter failed to crack the top three in his next two Gold Series starts, McNair opted to move down to the Grassroots and Clinton fans wisely sent him off as their top choice.
Theshowisfree rounded out the top three in the first Grassroots division.
McNair was back in the winner’s circle following Races 11 and 12 as Saftic piloted Tymal Cherub to his second straight victory and Randy Fritz got the job done with Dalton Hall.
After starting from Post 6, Saftic sent Tymal Cherub to the front heading for the halfway marker and the colt cruised home a 12 length winner in 2:04.4. Favourite My Rebelious Ways settled for second and Guilford picked up the third-place finisher’s cheque.
McNair shares ownership on Tymal Cherub with Leonard Gamble of Etobicoke and 1443059 Ontario Inc. of Oldcastle. Through six starts the Mr Lavec son has two wins and one second to his credit and currently sits eleventh in the race for a Semifinal berth with 75 points earned through one win and one second in Grassroots competition.
Gamble, McNair and Dean Lockhart of Collingwood own Dalton Hall, who picked up his second piece of Grassroots hardware with Sunday’s victory. The Striking Sahbra son was also a winner in his Grassroots debut at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Aug. 18.
On Sunday Randy Fritz engineered a front end trip for the colt and Dalton Hall cruised under the wire two lengths ahead of Tonight AAS and Armbro Edward in 2:07.3.
The other Grassroots divisions went to King Clifford in 2:06.3, P C Corvette in 2:05.4, T Js Mr Lavec in 2:04 and Archies Dream in 2:07.1.
Ontario’s talented two-year-old trotting colts meet for the last time in their regular season on Sept. 23 at Hiawatha Horse Park before the top 16 point earners head to Flamboro Downs for the Sept. 30 Grassroots Semifinals.
Grassroots action returns to Clinton Raceway next Sunday afternoon when the three-year-old trotting colts hit the popular half-mile oval in their second last regular season start.
For complete results please go to:
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rclntnsu.html