CLINTON, ON — With a total of 70 points heading into Sunday’s Grassroots event at Clinton Raceway, two-year-old pacing filly Val’s Vision is well ahead of where trainer Stanley Atkinson thought she would be at this stage in her freshman season.

“I was planning not to have her ready until the first of August, but she kept coming together and coming together and if it was not broken, I wasn’t going to fix it,” explains Atkinson. “She got to a point it was time to either give her a rest or start her.”

Atkinson and owners Kenneth Raspin and Larry Jeffrey of Goderich and Gerry Sparling of West Hill opted for the later and Val’s Vision made her debut in the Grassroots season opener at Woodstock Raceway on July 8, finishing third with a solid effort from Post 6.

In her second start the daughter of Astreos and Sparling’s broodmare Aahptometrist cruised around Mohawk Racetrack in 1:56.2 to finish second by a neck in a non-winners of one race contest. Back in the Grassroots at Sudbury on July 22, Val’s Vision was a half length winner in 2:01.2.

“I was very surprised she made it to the races and was handling things as early as she was,” says Atkinson. “She reminds me of a real moody teenager who wants things her own way and is not afraid to tell you about it. You’ve got to have a lot of patience with her, that’s for sure.”

Atkinson’s patience was put to the test in the filly’s fourth start, at Flamboro Downs on July 29, when she decided to take control of things at the three-quarter pole and made a break during the ensuing disagreement.

“I drove her myself there, and she decided she wanted to go around the horses in front of her, and I wasn’t ready for her to go yet,” recalls the horseman. “She’s got a lot of speed, but she’s got to learn to control it.”

That fiery temperament has led Atkinson to encourage the filly’s drivers to opt for off the pace tactics, teaching her to sit behind horses rather than sprinting off the starting gate.

“She always showed that natural ability, she has all the way through,” says Atkinson. “She’s a very versatile little horse, but I don’t really want to wake her up.”

Val’s Vision heads into Sunday’s contest, the second last in the regular season, off a fourth-place finish at Hiawatha Horse Park in the Aug. 17 Grassroots event where she did not seem to have her usual spark.

“In Sarnia she was just a little flat. There’s a lot of virus going around and when I got her blood back I think she was just a little sick,” notes the Mount Forest resident. “I’m expecting her to race better Sunday, she needs to; she’s fallen back a little in points.”

Her 70 point tally puts Val’s Vision in a two-way tie for thirteenth in the division standings, with Sunday’s contest and one other Grassroots event remaining in the regular season. The top 16 point earners will make their way to Flamboro Downs on Sept. 30 for a pair of Semifinals and the top eight finishers from there will battle in the $100,000 Grassroots Championship on Oct. 7.

Val’s Vision will be looking to boost her point tally from Post 5 in the third race on Sunday, facing off against a field of seven that includes former Gold Series competitor Tricky from Post 1 and Grassroots division winners Georgian Bay, Runaway Jade and Lil Motion from Posts 3, 7, and 8.

Post time at Clinton Raceway on Sunday is 1:30 pm and the two-year-old pacing fillies will battle for a total of $135,000 in Races 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11.

For complete entries please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/eclntnsu.html