DRESDEN, ON — There is a whole lot for fans to get excited about at Dresden Raceway on Canada Day. In addition to six Grassroots divisions for the exciting three-year-old trotting colts, there is $500,000 on the line in the track’s Pick 9 contest.
While the sophomore trotters provide the entertainment in Races 1 through 3 and 13 through 15, the lure of a $500,000 tax free payday will keep fans glued to their seats for Races 4 through 12. The wise handicapper who selects the winner of those nine races will cart home half a million dollars for their afternoon’s work.
While they are busy studying the program to divine the lucky numbers for the Pick 9, fans will also be checking out the contestants in the $91,330 Grassroots event. Among the horses that will vie for the Grassroots purse and points is local entry No Delusions.
Dennis Duford trains the Earl colt, who will make his Ontario Sires Stakes debut at his local oval just one month after his first start.
“He was coming good in the spring and then he got a quarter crack behind. Then he just got going again and he got another quarter crack,” says Duford. “I think he’ll get to be a nice little horse probably next year.”
The Dresden resident trains No Delusions for his partner Ronald Haskell of Windsor and the duo are hoping the colt can earn a piece of the provincial pie from Post 2 in the fourteenth race.
After two Grassroots events Willing And Abel leads the sophomore trotting colt division with a perfect record of two wins. The Incredible Abe colt is poised to add to that from Post 1 in the first race. Robert Hummel trains Willing And Abel for Whitesand Valley Stables of Schomberg.
Trainer Ross Henry will send six starters to Dresden for the third Grassroots event. The three-time Johnston Cup winner as top trainer in the Ontario Sires Stakes program, Henry’s J Ls Sunny Boy could make a leap up the point standings with solid effort from Post 4 in the third race. The Must B Sunny colt, owned by Arthur resident Henry and James Laverty of Sauble Beach has one win and one third to his credit after two Grassroots events.
Dresden Raceway raises the curtain on its exciting Canada Day program at 1 pm with the three-year-old trotting colts flanking the Pick 9 in Races 1, 2, 3, and 13, 14 and 15.