SARNIA, ON — Hiawatha Horse Park opens its 2008 Ontario Sires Stakes season on Thursday, July 31 with an exceptional line up of two-year-old pacing fillies competing for a total of $140,000 in seven Grassroots divisions.

Classic Sakuri will make her Ontario Sires Stakes debut from Post 4 in the last Grassroots division, and owner Stanley Malec is hoping the filly can match the impressive mile she delivered in overnight action at the Sarnia oval on July 24. In rein to Ernie Hendry, Classic Sakuri paced her way to a runner-up finish in the non-winners contest, timed in a sparkling 1:56.3.

“She was a pleasant surprise,” admits Malec, who bred and raised the daughter of Astreos and Spider Cam at his Classic Farms in Belle River, ON. “I knew she had some speed, but not as much as showed the other night.”

The July 24 start was the filly’s first, and came in just her second trip to the racetrack. In her first excursion away from home, Classic Sakuri delivered a 2:00.3 win in a July 17 qualifier at the Hiawatha oval.

“She’s a smart filly. The first time I took her to the track was the week before (July 17) and she wasn’t afraid of anything,” notes Malec, who also handles training duties on the young pacer. “She just jumped on the trailer and away she went.”

Classic Sakuri is the third filly Malec has had out of Camluck mare Spider Cam, who paced in 1:55.3 and earned $54,475 in her racing career, and the horseman says she is a bigger, stronger horse than her sisters. A quick study through her early lessons, Malec says the youngster seems to find her groove on the racetrack.

“The nicest part about this filly is, in the barn she’s a little testy, but when she gets on the track, her ears are up and that’s where she really enjoys herself,” he explains. “She looks forward to doing her work.”

Regular reinsman Hendry will steer the filly in her Grassroots debut, facing off against a field that includes three veterans of the Grassroots season opener, two fillies that started in the Gold Series, one coming in off a pair of qualifiers and one other filly with an overnight event under her belt. Among the Grassroots veterans is Power Outage, owned by Mooretown resident Paul Ysebaert, trainer Bob McIntosh of Windsor, Dave Boyle of Bowmanville and Clifford Grundy of Howell, MI. Second in the July 14 season opener at Grand River Raceway, Power Outage makes her second provincial start from Post 7 in the twelfth race.

Up against fillies like Power Outage, Malec knows Classic Sakuri has her work cut out for her on Thursday, and while he would love to see his homebred kick off her provincial career with a victory, he knows better than to get his hopes up.

“You always like to win, but unfortunately you can’t win every time,” he says. “We’re hoping she’ll develop into a nice mare, but we’ll see how she races Thursday and then we’ll go from there.

“I don’t rush them. I believe when they’re ready, they’ll tell you, and when they’re not ready, they’ll tell you,” he adds.

Post time for Hiawatha Horse Park’s Thursday evening program is 7 pm, and the Sarnia oval will showcase the two-year-old pacing fillies in the second half of the card, Races 6 through 12.

For complete entries please go to: http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/esarfth.html.