SARNIA, ON — Four time Johnston Cup winner Ross Henry demonstrated his skill at Hiawatha Horse Park on Thursday night, sending out a pair of winners and one runner-up in Trillium Series action for the three-year-old trotting fillies.

Kicking off Henry’s successful evening was Grassroots regular Kind Gesture, who powered to the front from Post 2 and controlled the pace through fractions of :30, 1:00.4 and 1:30 before sprinting to a 10 length triumph in 2:01.1. Henry’s son Wayne was in the race bike behind the Angus Hall daughter, who recorded the fastest win of the four Trillium divisions in spite of rain soaked conditions that left the Hiawatha surface rated two seconds slower than normal.

Fan favourite Keystone Stephanie, owned by Dale Hunter of Petrolia, Richard Hunter of Oil Springs, David Morrissey of Ailsa Craig and Mari Locking of London, overcame an early miscue to finish second and Win Some Way earned the third-place share of the $16,800 purse.

The Henry Stable of Arthur and Daniel McCann of Parkhill own Kind Gesture, who bumped her lifetime earnings to $40,710 with the victory, her second straight.

Two races later Wayne and Trevor Henry finished first and second with Odee Tessa and Praha, with Wayne once again opting for a front end trip to secure the 2:03.4 score. Meadowview Princess finished three lengths behind the Henry entry in third.

Virginia Odorico of Limehouse bred and owns Incredible Abe daughter Odee Tessa, who has not missed the top three in four starts this season, while NGA Powerline of Brantford are the owners and breeders of San Pellegrino daughter Praha.

Controlling the pace was the key to victory on Thursday as Whatthehecklavec and Dream On Bernie also led from gate to wire in their divisions.

In Race 6 Whatthehecklavec led the field of sophomore trotters through fractions of :29.3, 1:01.4 and 1:31.3 before cruising home to a 2:01.4 victory. Cheque Lavec was two and a half lengths back in second, while favourite Gaelic wound up two more lengths to the rear in third.

Carlisle resident Randy Fritz trains and drives Whatthehecklavec for his partners Jennifer and Gwendowyn Unger of Caledon East. The win was the Mr Lavec daughter’s fourth in five outings this season, including a triumph in the May 23 Grassroots season opener.

Berndt Hanover daughter Dream On Bernie was the only favourite to earn a Trillium trophy on Thursday. The George Zirnis trainee held off a charging Keystone Leah to stop the clock at 2:05.1 and earn her second victory of the season.

Zirnis trains and drives the filly for partners Janet Fairall of Windsor, Tanya Martin of Elmira and Nancy Holmes of Clinton. The Elmira resident, Fairall and Holmes also bred the winner of $201,083.

The three-year-old trotting fillies make their second appearance in Trillium Series action on July 15 at Grand River Raceway, while Ontario Sires Stakes action returns to Hiawatha Horse Park on Saturday, July 2 with Gold Series Eliminations for the exciting three-year-old pacing colts.

For a complete list of Thursday night’s results please go to:

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