ELORA, ON — Grand River Raceway hosted the Grassroots Championships for the first time on Saturday evening and the stars of the $800,000 show were local horsemen Doug and Gregg McNair.
Trainer Gregg McNair harnessed four starters in three Grassroots Championships and carried home three trophies. Driver Doug piloted four of his six Grassroots Championship mounts to victory, including his father’s three winners.
“It was great to have a great night like that at this track, it’s one of my favourite tracks and it’s close to home,” said the 22-year-old reinsman.
Rain soaked the Grand River oval in the hours leading up to the start of the Grassroots Championship races, resulting in a sloppy racing surface rated two seconds slower than normal and causing Doug McNair a few moments of worry before he paraded out for the first $100,000 contest aboard two-year-old pacing filly Cams Macharena.
“I had good horses and good post positions, but then it started to rain at the start of the night and that usually mixes things up, it usually goes the wrong way,” said the driver.
Fortunately the reinsman was able to execute his strategy without a hiccup, putting Cams Macharena on the front end from Post 2 and controlling the tempo all the way to the 1:57.1 finish. McNair and Cams Macharena kept Semifinal winner Twilight Seelster parked through much of the mile, leaving that filly to settle for second and pocket sitter Miss Coco Luck claiming the third-place share.
“You do it enough times, and you drive enough good horses, you figure out what points in this racetrack to use them at,” explained McNair of his strategy. “I’ve raced here a lot the last five years, day in and day out. You get on to the track, just like anything else I guess.”
McNair crafted the win for trainer Tony O’Sullivan of Cambridge and overjoyed owner-breeders Chris Arold and Michael Drury of Strongsville, OH and Kenneth Kohut of Independence, OH. The partners made the trip north for the Championship and the rain did nothing to dampen their delight in the Mach Three daughter’s victory.
The reinsman’s second victory came in similar fashion with his father’s two-year-old trotting colt Buddy Hally. Starting from Post 1, Buddy Hally circled around to the front just past the halfway marker and never faced another challenge, cruising home a two and one-quarter length winner in 2:01.3. Time Passes D finished second and fan favourite Gotta Secret settled for third.
Guelph resident Gregg McNair shares ownership of Buddy Hally with Howmac Farms Ltd. of North Wiltshire, PEI, breeder Reginald MacPherson of Stratford, PEI and Wayne MacRae of Fall River, NS. Through eight starts the son of Angus Hall posted three wins, two seconds and one third and Saturday’s triumphs boosted his earnings to $82,190.
Starting from the rail with track record holder Jet Speed in the three-year-old pacing filly championship, McNair stuck with his winning program and put the Jeremes Jet daughter on the front end. The other Semifinal winner Machet Rocket pressed the pace from the outside, but Jet Speed had plenty in reserve and sailed home a two length winner in 1:55.2. Machet Rocket finished second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Driving Miss Deo.
Bryan Lawrence of Hanover and Mike Foerster of Elmira own Jet Speed, who was a $48,000 purchase out of the Summer Sizzler Mixed Sale on Aug. 26. Before the partners acquired the filly and placed her in Gregg McNair’s care, the filly had been a stablemate of Machet Rocket’s in the Murray Brethour barn.
“It worked out for us, we got the rail, right,” said Lawrence. “Maybe if he (Brethour) had the rail and we were the four it would have been the other way, but everything worked out tonight. We got the $50,000.”
Father and son teamed up for one last Grassroots Championship test in the three-year-old pacing colt division. Saddled with Post 7 the younger McNair had Lucky Jet on fire early and landed in second on the rail behind Espec De Vie. As that colt rolled through fractions of :27, :56.2 and 1:24.4 McNair and Lucky Jet continued to sit in the pocket, missing an opportunity to step out in front of the outer flow going by the grandstand.
As the field turned for home it appeared that Lucky Jet would never see the light of day, but McNair found a sliver of room and hauled the colt out the centre of the track where he hit the overdrive button. Lucky Jet lived up to his name with a big finishing kick that propelled him to a half length victory over In Commando and Modern Xhibit.
“I ended up finding a little bit of room in the backside to slide out so it worked out for the best, I guess it was meant to be,” said McNair, who crafted the 1:54.3 win for owners Thomas Harmer of Willowbrook, IL, Michelle Crawford of Cazenovia, NY and Edward Kollross of Dubai, UAE.
“This is where I got my first huge stake win,” added the young reinsman, who won the 2008 Battle of Waterloo with Trail Boss. “I think I won the Battle of Waterloo before I ever won any Grassroots. I’m not sure if I ever won a Grassroots Final. I’ve won Super Finals but I don’t think I’ve ever won a Grassroots Final, so it’s kind of fitting it’s here and to get four of them in one night it’s a pretty big deal.”
McNair was also pleased to score three of his four wins aboard his father’s trainees. Gregg McNair led all trainers in the Ontario Sires Stakes program heading into Saturday’s championship and will have a firmer hold on top spot after his successful evening.
“He’s had a great year this year, it’s probably his best year by far in the stakes,” said Doug McNair of his father’s success. “He deserves it; he works hard every day at it, so it’s kind of fitting it’s his horses.”
In the other Grassroots Championships, three-year-old trotting filly Dancehall Mistress scored a 1:58.2 victory for trainer Brad Maxwell and owners David Goodrow Stable of Cambridge, Douglas Millard of Woodstock, P G Van Camp Stables of Port Perry and Glenn Tarver of Scarborough. Arthur resident Trevor Henry engineered the Angus Hall daughter’s fourth win.
Cheltenham resident David Menary’s two-year-old pacing colts finished first and third in their $100,000 event. Fan favourites Panpero Firpo and Randy Waples powered up the outside to the 1:56 victory over Duc Dorleans and stablemate Panongahela. Peter Pan Stables Inc. of Pepper Pike, OH owns both Panpero Firpo and Panongahela, who are sons of No Pan Intended.
Princess Lilly was sent off the heavy favourite in the two-year-old trotting filly championship and the Muscle Mass daughter did not disappoint, sailing home a four length winner in 2:00. Mario Baillargeon crafted the victory for his brother, trainer Benoit Baillargeon of Rockwood, and owners Les Ecuries Piramidan of Gatineau, QC.
Fan favourite Northern Escort got the job done in the three-year-old trotting colt division thanks to a last quarter sprint that saw him reel in pacesetter Summer Indian. Northern Escort stopped the clock at 1:58.1 to record his eighth win for trainer Justin Filion and owner Les Ecuries JYJ Inc. of St-Andre-D’Argenteuil, QC. Sylvain Filion piloted the Kadabra colt to the win.
Grand River Raceway fans will have one last dose of Ontario Sires Stakes action to see them through the winter as the three-year-old trotting fillies stop in to the Elora oval on Wednesday, Oct. 3 and 10 for their last Gold Series event. Post time for this Wednesday’s program is 7:05 pm.
For complete results please go to Grand River Raceway Results — Septembe 29, 2012