FRASERVILLE, ON — All the pieces fell into place at the perfect time for three-year-old trotting filly Fosse at Kawartha Downs on Saturday evening.
Making her debut in a Gold Series Final, the Balanced Image daughter delivered a classic come-from-behind effort to score the 1:58 victory and carry off the lion’s share of the $130,000 purse.
Leaving from Post 3 with owner-trainer Christopher Beaver at the helm, Fosse landed in sixth through the early going, which saw Wescott and Clarice Marie duel to a :29.1 opening quarter. When favourite Wanabeamillionaire started up the outside heading to the :57.3 half Beaver sent Fosse out behind her and sat on her flank, just three-quarters of a length behind, as the 1:27.1 three-quarters flashed by.
Powering to the front around the final turn, Fosse extended her lead to two lengths at the wire to score the victory, her second in just six lifetime starts. North To Alaska trotted to a steady runner-up finish, while Wanabeamillionaire faded to third.
Christopher and Johanna Beaver of Delaware, OH and David Lang of Hilliard, OH, own Fosse, a $21,000 US yearling purchase who was unraced at two.
Sent off as the second longest shot on the board, Fosse returned a sizeable $49.10 to win, $10.80 to place and $4.90 to show. North To Alaska’s second-place finish was worth $6.30 to place and show and Wanabeamillionaire returned $3.00 to show. The exactor was worth a cool $1,353.60 and there were no 3 – 9 – 1 triactor tickets sold so any fan with Fosse and North To Alaska in the top two spots earned $1,530.10, regardless of which filly they had selected for third.
Also showcased on Kawartha Downs’ Saturday evening program were the two-year-old trotting fillies in their Grassroots season opener. Trotting reinsman Trevor Ritchie captured a pair of the Grassroots divisions, steering Flirting Lavec and Zorgwijk Emani to wins in Races 3 and 5.
In the third race favourites Ritchie and Flirting Lavec stalked the pace, allowing The Price Is Right to roll through fractions of :30.2, 1:01.2 and 1:32 before shifting into overdrive in the stretch and pulling away to a two and three-quarter length triumph in 2:03.1. J Cs Charm and Marclif Victoria rounded out the top three.
Steve Bossence of London owns and trains Flirting Image, who was a $21,000 purchase at last fall’s Forest City Yearling Sale.
Ritchie copied his formula for success in the fifth race as Chloe K did all the work on the front end, trotting off fractions of :32, 1:03.3 and 1:33.4, before being caught in the stretch by Zorgwijk Emani. The Valleymeister daughter and runner-up Softys Caitlyn both overcame interference caused by the pacesetter at the top of the stretch, but Zorgwijk Emani recovered quickly and trotted off to a two and half length victory in 2:04.2. Favourite Spring Audit finished third.
James Dennie trains Zorgwijk Emani for Rob Dennie of Walkerton, who picked up the bargain trotter for just $3,700 at the Northern Standardbred Yearling Sale last fall.
The other Grassroots divisions went to P C Dreams in 2:03.3, Fiesty Kindof Luv in 2:03.1 and Trendy Girl — trained by Peterborough’s John Bax — in 2:05.
The three-year-old trotting fillies make their third Gold Series start at Woodbine Racetrack on Aug. 4, while the freshman trotting fillies continue their Grassroots campaign at Dresden Raceway on July 27.
Kawartha Downs hosts its fifth Ontario Sires Stakes event next Saturday, July 19, when the talented two-year-old pacing fillies arrive for Grassroots action.