SUDBURY, ON — Northern Ace delivered an impressive come from behind effort at Sudbury Downs on Saturday evening to claim his first Grassroots victory in a track record equalling 1:58.

With regular reinsman Jason Brewer in the race bike, the two-year-old pacing colt eased away from the starting gate and was 16 lengths behind early pacesetter Constant Craving at the :28 opening quarter. The Jay Rock took control of the pace heading to the :57.3 half, and Northern Ace moved five lengths closer to the action. Fan favourite Grinning Breed stepped to the front before the 1:28 three-quarters, and Northern Ace continued his steady progress from the back of the field, gaining four more lengths.

Around the final turn Brewer shifted the colt into gear, and Northern Ace shot effortlessly past Grinning Breed and down the stretch to the two length victory in 1:58. Grinning Breed settled for second and Billie Baran rounded out the top three.

Robert Hamather of Exeter bred and owns Northern Ace, and Richard Griffiths trains the son of Aces N Sevens and Secret Departure. Through seven starts the young pacer has posted three wins and three thirds for earnings of $30,088. Saturday’s triumph marked the colt’s first Grassroots win and jumped him from thirty-eighth to fourteenth in the race for one of 16 spots in the Oct. 20 Grassroots Semifinal.

Northern Ace’s 1:58 performance matched the track record set by Grassroots competitor Dirt Farm Douglas in September 1999.

Brewer and Griffiths came within a neck of a second Grassroots victory with Richlyn Hugh in the seventh race. Using a similar come from behind strategy, Richlyn Hugh and Brewer sprinted down the stretch, but were unable to reel in pacesetter Excel Nine or Docdor Doc and had to settle for third. Only a head separated Excel Nine and Docdor Doc, who stopped the clock at 1:59.2.

Pat Crowe trains Excel Nine for his Crowe Stable Inc. of Cookstown, and Paul Mackenzie drove the Astreos son to the win. Through five Grassroots starts the talented youngster has amassed a record of two wins, one second and one third for 137 points and a share of top spot in the division standings.

Allamerican Dice improved his Grassroots statistics to two wins and one second in three starts with a commanding 1:59.3 victory in the first division. In rein to Bruce Richardson, Allamerican Dice sat off the pace as J Vs Tank cruised through fractions of :28.1 and :57.3, then circled up three-wide at the 1:29.1 three-quarters and accelerated away from the field to a two length victory.

Favourite Lyons Geoff finished second, while Good Cracker edged JVs Tank out for the third-place finisher’s share of the $35,447 Grassroots purse.

Susanne Kerwood trains Allamerican Dice for Irving Bork of Ellington, CT and Lightning 5 Racing Stable of Plainview, NY and has tested the colt against the best in North America with creditable results. In addition to his Grassroots success the Grinfromeartoear son was third in an elimination of the Battle Of Waterloo at Grand River Raceway on July 30, and third in a division of the Champlain Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack on Sept. 8.

The talented two-year-old pacing colts will square off in their last regular season Grassroots event on Oct. 12 at Flamboro Downs, before the top 16 point earners head to Kawartha Downs for the lucrative post season.

Saturday’s skirmish wrapped up Sudbury Downs’s 2007 Ontario Sires Stakes season, which also saw a track record lowered when the three-year-old pacing colts brought their high-speed Grassroots show to the northern oval in August. The provincial program will return to Sudbury next season with a fresh crop of two and three-year-olds eager to take a run at the half-mile oval’s record books.

For complete results please go to:

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