James MacDonald started the 2022 Ontario Sires Stakes season the way he finished 2021, in the winner’s circle. The 2021 Lampman Cup winner won three of four $22,000 Grassroots divisions for three-year-old pacing colts on Charles Juravinski Memorial Cup night at Flamboro Downs.
The Guelph, Ont., native kicked off the evening by driving Century Invictus to a gate-to-wire victory in race one. The son of Bettors Delight surged straight to the lead from the five post, and didn’t look back, pacing a mile in 1:55.1.
“I raced (Century Invictus) last year in the Grassroots, and he is absolutely built for a half-mile track,”
said MacDonald. “He’s a little guy, and has a rocket move off the gate. I was looking forward to driving him tonight. No matter where he drew, I knew was going to make my way to the lead.”
Century Invictus, trained by Harry Poulton, moves to a record of 1-2-0 in five starts this season for his TheStable.ca owners.
MacDonald followed up with a win in the second Grassroots division, race three on the card. He piloted Coligny Hanover (Sunshine Beach) to victory in a time of 1:53.1.
“He’s a good little horse, but he can be a little steppy at times. So the rail helped,” said MacDonald. “I wanted to get him away clean, once we got through the first turn, we straightened up going (halfway), I moved him (into first) and he did the rest.”
The first win of 2022 pushed the Anthony Beaton trained colt over $50,000 in career earnings.
Silk Road Smash helped MacDonald complete the hat-trick in race eight, the fourth and final Grassroots division of the evening. The Nick Gallucci trainee bounced back nicely from going off-stride two weekends ago in the Ontario Sired Spring Series Final at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
“Just another little horse that is a great half-miler. He always has a good step, and I had the vibe he wasn’t going to do it again,” said MacDonald. “He paced great tonight, and I was really happy with him.”
MacDonald notched five total wins on the evening, including the $273,500 Charles Juravinski Memorial Cup for four-year-old pacing males, where he repeated his gate-to-wire effort from race one, with Linedrive Hanover leading all the way to score the victory.
“It’s awesome to have a great night like this, because in this business there can be a lot of tough nights,” said MacDonald. “So, it’s just a great night.”
Sports Advisor won the other Grassroots leg, race six, under a drive from Doug McNair. The Richard Zeron trainee sat in third position throughout, before making his move heading into the final ¼ mile and pulling away to win by two lengths over fellow Sportswriter son Twin B Raptor.
Click here for full results in all Grassroots divisions.
Click here for current OSS Standings.