INNISFIL, ON — Wayne Henry has led all trainers in the Ontario Sires Stakes program for the past two seasons, and the Arthur resident demonstrated the reason for his success with a pair of Trillium Series victories at Georgian Downs on Saturday night.
Following in the footsteps of his father Ross Henry — a five-time winner of the Johnston Cup award as the provincial program’s leading trainer — Wayne Henry specialises in trotters and he guided two-year-old fillies Town Hall Babe and Daylon Mystique to their first Trillium Series victories in impressive front end style.
Town Hall Babe started from Post 5 in the second $23,378 Trillium division, and fired straight to the lead, reaching the opening quarter in :30.1. The daughter of Amigo Hall and Village Babe continued to lead the field through a 1:02.3 half and a 1:32.1 three-quarters, battling fan favourite Lunar Stream through the final stages of the race to capture a three-quarter length victory in 2:02.1.
Lunar Stream settled for second, with Mind Over Money edging our Friendly Amigo for third.
The Henry Stable of Arthur and Daniel McCann of Parkhill share ownership on Town Hall Babe, who now boasts a record of three wins, two seconds and one third in eight starts this season. A $36,000 yearling at last fall’s Canadian Open Yearling Sale, Town Hall Babe has already returned $52,227 to her delighted owners. And with two wins and one second in Grassroots action, the filly is virtually assured of a berth in the lucrative post season.
Daylon Mystique started even farther to the right than her stablemate, but Henry employed the same strategy and had the filly firing out from Post 7 in the third Trillium division. On top by a length and a half at the :29.3 quarter, Daylon Mystique maintained a comfortable margin over the field as she powered through fractions of 1:01 and 1:32, then dug in down the stretch to fend off pocket sitter Igual Que Tu and chalk up the 2:02.3 victory.
In Sno Sexy closed well to earn the third-place share of the Trillium spoils, just ahead of Henry’s other entry, Napanee Seelster.
Also owned by the Henry Stable and McCann, Daylon Mystique now has three wins, three seconds and $124,570 in earnings to her credit through eight lifetime starts. An $18,000 bargain at the 2007 Forest City Yearling Sale, the Amigo Hall daughter is a consistent player at the Gold Series level who currently sits second in the race for one of 10 berths in the $300,000 season ending Super Final.
Henry came within four lengths of sweeping all three Trillium divisions, but driver Anthony Haughan tore a page from the veteran horseman’s play book and wired the field with Ldees Creditreport, leaving Henry to settle for second in the first split with Youre Still Theone.
Lining up behind the gate from Post 5, Haughan hustled Ldees Creditreport out to a :29.2 opening quarter and maintained a smart tempo throughout the race, cruising home unchallenged in a personal best 1:59.1. Youre Still Theone and Paycheck Lavec hit the wire four and one-quarter lengths behind the quick stepping leader to take home second and third-place honours.
The win was the second in four starts for Ldees Creditreport, who has struggled with breaks since making her debut at Grand River Raceway on Aug. 8. Trained by Ira Fisher for Ely Iversen of Moffat, the Credit Winner miss was a $26,000 yearling acquisition at last November’s Harrisburg Sale and has banked $19,689.
The two-year-old trotting fillies will make their second Trillium Series appearance at Western Fair Raceway on Nov. 22. Before that the Grassroots fillies will battle at Flamboro Downs on Sept. 29 and Windsor Raceway on Oct. 7, while the Gold Series competitors return to action at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Sept. 26 and wrap up their regular season at Woodbine Racetrack on Oct. 31.
Saturday’s exciting Trillium event concluded Georgian Downs’s 2008 Ontario Sires Stakes season, which featured four track record performances on the outstanding Gold Rush night in June.
For complete results please go to: http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rgeodfsa.html.