BELLEVILLE, ON — Tara Ballyduff toured the Quinte Raceway half-mile quicker than any of his peers in the two-year-old trotting colt Grassroots event on Monday, stopping the clock in 2:09 in the first of five divisions.
The Balanced Image son and driver Trevor Henry led from wire-to-wire and held off a hard charging Skylars Image to score their first ever win. Best Ball recovered from interference early in the mile to finish third.
The Henry Stable of Arthur, comprised of trainer Ross Henry and his sons Trevor and Wayne, owns Tara Ballyduff, who was making his first start in the Grassroots after an unsuccessful outing in the July 13 Gold Eliminations at Kawartha Downs.
In the second division Trevor Henry and Kuruption finished just three-quarters of a length behind winner J M Vangogh after carving all the fractions. Ron Waples trains and drives J M Vangogh for Paul Chambers of Carrsville, VA and the Hall of Fame horseman started to reel Henry in at the three-quarter mile marker. He was just a neck off the pace as the colts turned for home and swept by through the stretch to record the 2:10.1 victory. C S Ruff Start, owned by trainer Mark Steacy of Lansdowne and David Reid of Kingston, finished one and three-quarter lengths back in third.
Henry was also forced to settle for second in the seventh race when Certified Election caught Earl Vic Dol through the stretch. Ivan Sugg of Deshler, OH owns Certified Election, who stopped the clock in 2:10.4 to post his first ever win. The Mr Lavec son and John Duke Sugg sat fourth throughout the mile before sprinting home to the win over Earl Vic Dol and Lake Ontario.
In carbon copy fashion, Snoops Bytes and Rick Webb snuck by Grand Turk and Trevor Henry through the final stages of the fourth Grassroots division. Ray Paquette of Cedar Valley bred, owns and trains Snoops Bytes, who was a fourth-place finisher in the July 13 Gold Eliminations. The Kawartha Snoopy son stuck a neck in front of Grand Turk to score the 2:11 win. Rocky Two was moved from fourth to third after suffering interference in the early going.
The final Grassroots division went to Ode To Earl and Gord Brown who overcame an early break in stride to post the 2:10.3 victory over Dogleg Left and No Cryin Mama. Keith Kurtz trains Ode To Earl for Murray Cox of Rockwood and Gary Kurtz of Ariss who anted up $11,000 for the Earl son at last fall’s Forest City Yearling Sale.
The two-year-old trotting colts make their next Grassroots start at Rideau Carleton Raceway on August 18, while the Ontario Sires Stakes makes its final stop at Quinte Raceway on the last long weekend of summer. The Belleville oval will wrap up another exciting season of provincial competition with the Grassroots wild card for the three-year-old pacing fillies.