CLINTON, ON — Clinton Raceway hosts the second Grassroots event for the two-year-old pacing fillies this Sunday, Aug. 5, and trainer Mark Horner is hoping his two Camluck fillies can translate a beneficial post position draw into a share of the $106,000 provincial purse.

“Post position means everything on a half-mile track,” says the St. Marys resident. “You’ve got to have that.”

Both Cheyanne Seelster and Albany Seelster will start from Post 2 in Sunday’s contest; Cheyanne Seelster in the third race and Albany Seelster in the eighth.

After a the bumpy start Cheyanne Seelster got in the Grassroots season opener, Horner expects the first foal of $100,083 winner Casual Living will only improve on the sixth-place finish she posted at Hanover Raceway on July 21.

“A couple of fillies made breaks in the first turn and wiped us out,” says Horner of the interference Cheyanne Seelster suffered in her debut. “Hopefully it will be better this week.”

Stablemate Albany Seelster enjoyed a smoother tour of the Hanover oval and finished fourth in her Grassroots division. With that experience under her belt, Horner expects the half-sister to former Ontario Sires Stakes regular Alias Seelster ($196,459) to be even better this week.

“She raced okay at Hanover. She was a little steppy in the turn, but they were rolling along pretty good,” says the horseman, who hands the lines over to his brother, driver Michael Horner, at race time.

“They’re a nice pair of fillies. I hope they get better every week,” he adds.

Horner and his partner in the Sure Gain Stable, Charles Dolmage of Mitchell, own Cheyanne Seelster, and share ownership of Albany Seelster with Wilma and James Mackenzie of Peterborough. Both fillies were $14,000 yearling purchases at the 2006 Forest City Yearling Sale and progressed easily through their early lessons.

“Cheyanne Seelster was real good from early on. She’s good gaited, has a good attitude, likes her job; it’s just a matter if she can learn to go fast enough,” says Horner. “Albany Seelster has a really good temperament, her conformation is really good and nothing bothers her. She’s a typical Camluck as well, not overly big, with a nice way of going.”

While some of the fillies’ peers have seen action since their July 21 Grassroots debut, Horner has opted for a laid-back, low stress approach this season, hoping to keep the pair fresh right up until the Grassroots post season at Kawartha Downs in late October.

“I’m trying to take it a little easier on them, hopefully make them last to the end,” explains the horseman. “I don’t like to go back week in and week out; it’s a long summer.”

Post time for Clinton Raceway’s summer matinee is 1:30 pm, and this Sunday, Aug. 5 the two-year-old pacing fillies will show off their skills in Races 1 through 4 and 8 through 10.

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