DRESDEN, ON — Cotton Briefs turned in the fastest mile of seven Grassroots divisions at Dresden Raceway on Monday to capture her first lifetime victory.

Saddled with Post 6, the two-year-old trotting filly and trainer-driver Lyle MacArthur eased off the gate and were sitting last as favourite St Lads Calcium took the fillies to the :30.2 opening quarter. Heading toward the 1:02.3 half, Cotton Briefs had made up some ground on the outside and the Angus Hall daughter continued to advance toward the front with a three-wide move at the 1:32.2 three-quarters.

Two and a quarter lengths back in third when she turned for home, Cotton Briefs sprinted down the stretch to wrest the half length win from St Lads Calcium and stop the clock in 2:03.3. Bullville Peachy finished a hard fought third, just three-quarters of a length behind Cotton Briefs.

MacArthur trains Cotton Briefs for Linda Wellwood of Princeton and Tammy Aspden of Caistor Centre. The pair purchased the filly at last fall’s Forest City Yearling Sale for $9,000 and Cotton Briefs has returned their investment plus $450 of interest in just three starts. In addition to Monday’s victory she posted a third-place finish in her Grassroots debut at Sudbury Downs on July 31.

In the seventh race on the afternoon program Dresden Raceway fans sent Strikingly Luvable and Party Hall off as equal favourites and the fillies battled fiercely through the middle stages of the race.

From Post 1 Strikingly Luvable had the upper hand as the starting gate pulled away and the Striking Sahbra miss took full advantage, powering to a :30.4 opening quarter. Party Hall found herself in fourth through the opening stages of the race, but Ron Waples quickly moved her to the outside to challenge Strikingly Luvable.

From the 1:03.2 half to the 1:34.3 three-quarters Party Hall pressured the pacesetter relentlessly, but heading around the final turn Strikingly Luvable gained a one length advantage that had stretched out to three lengths by the time she cruised under the wire in 2:04.3. Incredibly Elegant and Randy Fritz sat patiently in the pocket and slipped in to claim runner-up honours, while Party Hall was forced to settle for third.

Trevor Henry engineered Strikingly Luvable’s victory for his partners in the Henry Stable of Arthur and Alan Bodin of Rockwood. The win was the Ross Henry trainee’s fourth straight. The filly has been flawless since moving down to the Grassroots level after an unsuccessful run at the Gold fillies in the season opener. Monday’s victory moved Strikingly Luvable into second-place in the division point race, just 25 points behind leader St Lads Calcium.

Also making a leap up the standings on Monday were Orillia Seelster and Image Lane, who captured the last two Grassroots divisions of the afternoon.

Orillia Seelster and Dave Wall cruised to the front from Post 1 and never faced a serious challenge in Race 11, sailing under the wire two and one-quarter lengths on top in 2:04.1. Lukes Danielle picked up the second-place share of the $15,000 purse and Spare Time Rozie, owned by John Cowan of Brigden, finished third.

While the win was Orillia Seelster’s first of the season, the Eager Seelster daughter has been a model of consistency, recording two seconds and one third in her first three provincial appearances. Brian Hodgson trains the winner of $17,112 for Yves Blouin of London and Ming Siu of Richmond, BC.

Image Lane captured her second straight Grassroots victory with a 2:06.4 front end effort in Race 13. Acton resident Karen Hudon drove the Balanced Image miss to her third victory of the season for her partner Sarah McCoy of Rockwood. Joe Hudon, Jr. trains Image Lane, who also captured a Trillium Series division at Hanover Raceway on Aug. 10.

Pimlicos Premier and Treasure Best rounded out the top three in the last Grassroots division.

The other three divisions went to Porsche Hall in 2:07.1, Promise To Win in 2:06.1 and Dream Tune in 2:06.

The two-year-old trotting fillies return to Grassroots action on Sept. 23 at Grand River Raceway, while the exciting three-year-old pacing colts are headed to Dresden Raceway next Sunday, Sept. 11 for their second last Grassroots battle.

For complete results please go to:

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