BELLEVILLE, ON — In spite of the wet weather and a track that started off the night rated one second slower than normal, four two-year-old pacing colts circled the Quinte Exhibition Raceway in 2:01.3 on Friday evening.
Windsong Bratt kicked off the Grassroots speed parade in Race 6, going wire-to-wire from Post 1 for driver Dave Boughton. With one Grassroots victory already under his belt, Quinte fans sent the Apaches Fame son off as the race favourite and watched as he sailed home to the one and a half length win over Fast Factor and Windsun Fire N Ice.
Bill Budd trains Windsong Bratt for breeder William Loyens of London and PBR Systems Group of Freelton.
One race later Moments Like That matched Windsong Bratt’s 2:01.3 time and his technique, firing off the wings from Post 7 to control the race from start to finish. Favourite Kentucky Rebel settled for second two lengths back and Putnam President was another length and three-quarters back in third.
Another son of Apaches Fame, Moments Like That is owned, trained and driven by Walkerton resident Terry Fritz, who offered up $12,000 for the roan colt at last fall’s Forest City Yearling Sale and has recouped $14,720 through five starts.
Ray McLean, Jr. opted to stalk the pace in the eighth race, but Royas Scooter’s seven length 2:01.3 victory was just as impressive. The Matts Scooter son circled pacesetter Blac Ty Gimble at the three-quarters and never glanced back, powering to the victory over Highway Man and Willow Path.
Trainer Herman Bardoel of Putnam shares ownership of first-time winner Royas Scooter with Robert Irving of Dorchester and Ronald Paurys, Jr. of St. Thomas.
The last colt to clock the magic 2:01.3 time was Armbro Cougar in Race 9, who returned to the front-end style to score the three and three-quarter length victory over Mattsthenite. Armbro Cancun and the rest of the field trailed home more than 11 lengths behind the leader.
Richard Webb trains and drives Armbro Cougar, a $14,000 yearling acquisition, for Paul Jackson of Bobcaygeon. The Island Fantasy son started off the season with a third-place finish in the June 28 Gold Elimination at Woodbine, but a ninth-place finish in the 1:53.3 Final one week later convinced his connections that the Grassroots was more their speed.
The other Grassroots divisions went to Putnam Express in 2:02.2, Apache Rain Dance in 2:05.3, Twin B Krave in 2:01.4 and The Thief in 2:04.4.
The freshman pacing colts renew their Grassroots rivalry for the fourth time on Aug. 24 at Kawartha Downs, while Quinte Exhibition Raceway wraps up its 2004 Ontario Sires Stakes schedule on Monday, Sept. 6 with Grassroots action for the three-year-old trotting fillies.