SUDBURY, ON — They may have been looking at his past performance, or maybe they just liked his name, but fans at Sudbury Downs were accurate in their selection of Sudburysatrdaynite as their top choice in the third of six Grassroots divisions on Saturday evening.

Sudburysatrdaynite eased out of Post 1, but regular reinsman Randy Fritz sent the Northern Luck son after the lead heading past the :29 opening quarter. On top by a length at the 1:00.1 half and 1:31.2 three-quarters, the colt cranked up the speed a notch heading around the final turn and cruised under the wire in 2:01.4 over a track rated one second slower than normal.

J M Albert and Everybody’s Pal raced it out for second and third in the $17,698 Grassroots contest.

Campbellville resident Chance Stewart trains Sudburysatrdaynite for his partner Mike West of Georgetown. The pair acquired the colt for a mere $4,000 at last fall’s Forest City Yearling Sale and have already banked $26,604 on his behalf through six starts. Saturday’s victory was the colt’s second in Grassroots action and boosts his point tally to 122, good enough for second spot in the division standings after three events.

Sitting ahead of Sudburysatrdaynite on the Grassroots leaderboard is Acceptable Risk, who captured his third provincial victory with an impressive effort in the ninth race Saturday.

Starting from the outside Post 8 Acceptable Risk landed on the rail in sixth as Marcus The Brut took the field through a :29.2 opening quarter. Sitting on the outside behind Albert In The City at the 1:00.4 half, Acceptable Risk circled out three-wide at the 1:30.4 three-quarters to claim the lead and then dug in down the stretch to earn the 2:02.1 victory over Mythic Voyage and Awestreos.

Randy Fritz notched his second Grassroots win of the night with the come from behind steer aboard the Intrepid Seelster son, who is trained by Dan Morrissey for David Morrissey of Ailsa Craig and Daniel McCann and William Woodburn of Parkhill.

Veteran reinsman Reg Gassien also claimed a pair of victories on the Grassroots program, steering Snap Out Of It and Allamerican Hardy to wins in the eighth and eleventh races.

A flawless pocket trip behind fan favourite Sauble Justy earned Snap Out Of It his second Grassroots win of the season as the Camluck son reeled in the pacesetter through the final strides to record the 2:03.3 victory by a quarter length. Gassien shares ownership on Snap Out Of It with trainer Jim Ainsworth of Sarnia, Claude Pearson of Tilbury and William Boden of Vancouver, BC.

Sauble Justy saw his win streak halted at two as he settled for second, while Long Leadtime rounded out the top three in the eighth race.

Three races later Gassien opted for come-from-behind tactics with Allamerican Hardy, sending the colt up the outside heading for the halfway marker and wearing down pacesetter Eagle Luck just past the three-quarters. On top by two lengths at the head of the lane, the Camluck son cruised under the wire in 2:02.4 to record his first win of the season. R M Karisma was two lengths back in second and Rare Copy was six lengths behind the leader in third.

Trainer Scott McEneny of Waterdown shares ownership on Allamerican Hardy with John Fielding of Toronto and Joe Tinelli of Edmonton, AB.

The other Grassroots divisions went to Fantasy Beau in 2:01.1 and Underground King in 2:00.2.

The two-year-old pacing colts return to Grassroots competition on Sept. 3 at Woodstock Raceway, while Sudbury Downs fans are treated to a second week of Ontario Sires Stakes excitement this Saturday when the three-year-old trotting colts come to town for their second last Grassroots battle.

For complete results please go to:

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