WINDSOR, OCT. 24, 2001 — After spending all season impressing harness racing fans across the province, the top two-year-old Ontario Sires Stakes competitors will move into the final stages of their freshman campaign at Windsor Raceway on Friday night. The top 16 points earners from each division will battle for $160,000 in eight Grass Roots Semifinals, hoping to earn a berth in the prestigious Grass Roots Championships next weekend.
Among the favourites in the pacing filly and pacing colt divisions are a pair of horses trained by local horseman Jack Darling. Eyes Wide Shut heads into Saturday’s event off a solid win in the last regular season event and will make her bid for a berth in the pacing filly Final from Post 3 in the second race, while Corona Grande puts his undefeated Grass Roots record on the wire from Post 6 in Race 4.
Windsor resident Darling shares ownership on Eyes Wide Shut and Corona Grande with Dan Smith of Dorchester, and Smith is hoping the late start both youngsters got on their season will pay off over the next two weeks.
“A lot of my two-year-olds got sick just as they were ready to qualify in June so they got put back just a bit,” explains Smith. “But I’ve always said it’s such a long year you either get it early or you get it late.”
In her four Grass Roots starts Eyes Wide Shut scored three wins and one fourth-place finish, while Corona Grande was untouchable in all four of his provincial outings, including a track record effort at Woodstock Raceway on Aug. 25.
Facing off against Eyes Wide Shut in the second race is one of three entries hailing from Doug McIntosh’s Wheatley barn. Extra Olives wrapped up her regular season with 16 points from two wins, one second and one fourth-place finish in five Grass Roots starts and will take on the cream of the crop from Post 2.
“She’s a good filly. She might be even a little better than she shows,” says McIntosh, who shares ownership on the Jodys Cam homebred with B C Racing Stable of Warren, MI, Donney Liepa of Canton, MI and Randy Liepa of Farmington Hills, MI. “But she’s in the toughest division so our job will be to get qualified for the Final.
“If we can leave there with three horses qualified for the Finals, that will be fine,” he adds.
The other two youngsters McIntosh is expecting good things from are Balanced Image trotting colts Ryan Hall and Semper Fi Hall, both owned by breeder Walnut Hall Limited of Lexington, KY. Ryan Hall will start from Post 6 in the first race, while Semper Fi Hall attempts to overcome Post 8 in the seventh.
“If Ryan Hall behaves himself he’ll get qualified and then he should be close in the Final. The five-eighths mile track is better for him,” explains the trainer, who engineered a Hambletonian win and Horse of the Year honours for trotter Yankee Paco last season. “Semper Fi Hall has been a most pleasant surprise. I didn’t expect him to get as good as he did, but every time we have called on him he has answered the call. The only disadvantage on Saturday is that we drew the eight-hole.”
After spending more than her fair share of time in the outer tier this summer, trotting filly Early Secret has finally landed on the rail and owner Malcolm MacPhail of Dover Center is hoping that the Earl daughter can deliver her second win of the season on Saturday.
The filly’s record of one win, two seconds, one third and two fourth-place finishes left her with 20 points and rewarded MacPhail for the countless hours he spent teaching the fractious filly her early lessons.
“She was a real problem to break, I was the laughing stock of Dresden for weeks,” says MacPhail, who shares ownership on the Earl daughter with breeder William Loyens of London. “I think I picked her up at Loyens’ at the end of October and we never got going by ourselves until after Christmas.
“She’s just go out of the barn and either lay down or run into a fence or something,” recalls MacPahil. “She was awful hard to drive. I don’t know if she didn’t know what she wanted to do or what.”
Once Early Secret settled into her work Paul Walker took over training duties and will also steer the filly from Post 1 in the ninth race on Saturday.
The two-year-old trotters and pacers are spotlighted in Races 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8,9, and 11 on Windsor Raceway’s 7:25 pm program Saturday, which also features Gold Elimination action for the two-year-old pacing colts in Race 10.
The top four finishers from each Grass Roots Semifinal will advance to their respective $100,000 Championships at Windsor on Nov. 3.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT SANDRA SNYDER AT 519-656-2017 (TEL./FAX) OR smsnyder@sentex.net.