ELORA, ON — Grinning Breed and Dougs Fame jumped to the top of the two-year-old pacing colt division point race with a one-two finish in the second of six $18,173 Grassroots battles at Grand River Raceway on Monday evening.

Arthur resident Trevor Henry piloted Grinning Breed to the one and three-quarter length victory, reeling in pacesetter Dougs Fame in the stretch. Just A Suggestion finished third in the 1:57.1 mile.

Paul Taylor trains Grinfromeartoear son Grinning Breed for Glenview Livestock Ltd. of Wallenstein. The win was the colt’s sixth through seven starts and boosted his freshman earnings to $31,957. With two wins and one third in three Grassroots starts, Grinning Breed has accumulated 112 points, five more than rival Dougs Fame, who is owned by trainer Gregg McNair of Guelph and Ian Fleming of Londesborough.

While Dougs Fame was thwarted in the second Grassroots division, Gregg McNair trainee Avnis Apache stepped up in the fifth split and scored a solid two length victory over Rust Belt and Doctor J Holiday. With Randy Fritz in the race bike, Avnis Apache took command of the race at the halfway marker and cruised home to a 1:58 victory, his first in three lifetime starts.

Ervin Abdulov of London owns the Apaches Fame son, who needs another strong finish in the Sept. 29 Grassroots event at Sudbury Downs to join his stablemate in post season play.

The quickest mile of the six Grassroots divisions was recorded by Woodmere Astroid in the fourth race. The Astreos gelding and driver Paul Mackenzie rolled to the front at the three-quarter marker and simply pulled away from their peers to a five and a half length victory in 1:56.3. Kerrs Light and early leader Great Intentions rounded out the top three.

Trained by Robert Fellows for S S G Stables of North Boston, NY, Woodmere Astroid started his season at the Gold Series level and logged second and fourth-place finishes in Gold Elimination action before dropping into the Grassroots for the Sept. 8 event at Hiawatha Horse Park. The gelding’s third-place finish at Hiawatha and victory at Grand River give him a total of 62 points and a share of sixteenth spot in the race for one of 16 berths in the Oct. 20 Semifinal.

Coupon Bob also delivered an impressive performance to get a nose in front of pacesetter Shipps Destination in the evening’s first Grassroots skirmish. The Full Scholarship son and driver Garrett Whelan sprinted down the stretch to steal the 1:56.4 victory from Shipps Destination, leaving Sturges Hanover one and three-quarter lengths back in third.

Mary Paulic trains Coupon Bob for Russell Ellis of York. In his first two Grassroots outings the colt finished eighth and second, giving him a total of 75 points and a shot at extending his season through the end of October.

The other two Grassroots divisions were captured by Docdor Doc in 1:58.3 and J Vs Tank in 1:58.2.

The two-year-old pacing colts have two regular season events remaining, Sept. 29 at Sudbury Downs and Oct. 12 at Flamboro Downs, before the top 16 point earners square off in the Grassroots Semifinal.

Grand River Raceway has one event remaining on its 2007 schedule, a Grassroots event for the two-year-old trotting colts on Monday, Oct. 8.

For complete results please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rgrvrmo.html