INNISFIL, ON — Sixty-four of the finest three-year-olds in the province will converge on Georgian Downs Saturday evening for eight $30,000 Grassroots Semifinals.
Leading off the outstanding evening of Ontario Sires Stakes racing are the three-year-old pacing fillies, who will battle for a top four finish in the first and second races on the 7:30 pm program. Marvin Chantler knows Tosexyforthedriver will have her work cut out for her from Post 8 in the second Semifinal, but the Loretto resident is hoping the sophomore filly’s grit and gate speed will carry her through to next week’s $100,000 Championship.
“You have to finish in the top four, so I would think with her gate speed she will be looking to get spotted somewhere in mid-pack, find a hole and hopefully get a good trip. And if not, you drive on and improve your position,” says the owner. “She’s a tough filly. She’s had 29 starts this year.”
Tosexyforthedriver heads into her Semifinal off a fifth-place finish in the last Grassroots event at Hiawatha Horse Park, and Chantler says the two week break since that race has worked in the Run The Table daughter’s favour.
“In her last start at Sarnia she might have been fighting a little virus. I didn’t think she was quite herself,” explains Chantler. “So we are looking for a better performance Saturday.”
Alliston resident Bruce MacDonald trains Tosexyforthedriver, who recorded her 1:54.2 season’s best at Georgian Downs in the third of six Grassroots events this summer. The filly posted a record of two wins, two seconds, one third and one fifth in six regular season starts.
Sno Doubt About It leads the three-year-old trotting fillies into the Semifinal round and through 17 races this season trainer Wayne Bloomfield says the division leader has only had one race he considers a flop. In fact the Balanced Image miss has been so consistent the Kerwood resident is hard-pressed to recall just which race it was when the filly failed to meet his expectations.
“She’s pretty steady. She always gives a good effort,” says Bloomfield. “I can’t believe that she won’t do all right. She’d have to have a real flunky race not to make the Final — I hope so anyway.”
Sno Doubt About It, who will start from Post 3 in the sixth race on Saturday, posted four wins and one second in five Grassroots starts to lead the division with 225 points. After the filly turned in a slightly flat third-place performance in the Oct. 9 Trillium at Kawartha Downs, Bloomfield opted to skip the last regular season Grassroots event so Sno Doubt About It heads into the Semifinal off a two week mini-vacation.
“I took last week off to kind of freshen her up and have her ready for this weekend, and next weekend, if she should get that far,” he says. “I turned her out for three or four days, let her run and play, and then started jogging her Friday and Saturday. She had Sunday off and then was back jogging Monday. I trained her today (Wednesday) and everything went good, so hopefully she will be good.”
Karen Carroll of Shedden owns Sno Doubt About It, who has earned $148,454 through her two season career.
Bootilicious prepped for Saturday’s three-year-old pacing colt Semifinal with a personal best 1:53.2 mile over Georgian Downs on Oct. 12, and trainer Darren McCall says the Camluck son is in top condition heading into the ninth race.
“We saved him all year for these races,” says the Guelph resident. “We knew he was probably good enough to race in the Golds, but we felt he could be one of the top colts in the Grassroots so we decided to stay with the Grassroots.”
Through six Grassroots starts, five of them under McCall’s guidance, Bootilicious scored four wins and one fourth for a total of 208 points and a 13 point lead atop the division standings. Bootilicious and driver Michael Langdon will start from Post 6 in the second sophomore pacing colt Semifinal, and his conditioner says the post position should not affect the pair’s race strategy.
“We don’t drive him for early speed,” says McCall, who trains the gelding for Stake Your Claim Stable of Secaucus, NJ and Let It Ride Stables Inc. of Delray Beach, FL. “He loves a good fast pace up front.”
The three-year-old trotting colts wrap up the action packed evening, with division leader Earl Of Openwood leading the charge from the advantageous Post 1 in the eighth race. Trained by Frank Szasz for breeder Ena Szasz of Bolton, the Earl son posted a record of four wins and one second in five regular season Grassroots starts for a total of 225 points.
The contestants in all eight Semifinals will need a top four finish to advance to next week’s Grassroots Championship, which features a $100,000 Final for each division. Post time at Georgian Downs is 7:30 pm on Saturday, with the Semifinals raising the trackside temperature in Races 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10.