SUDBURY, ON — Sudbury Downs kicks off its four event 2003 Ontario Sires Stakes schedule on Saturday evening with five Grassroots divisions for the three-year-old trotting fillies.
Last year’s Grassroots Champion Designable made her 2003 debut in the May 19 Grassroots season opener at Quinte Raceway where she overcame Post 7 to score a 2:04.4 victory. The Earl daughter followed that up with a win in the first Trillium event of the season on May 25, circling Dresden Raceway’s half-mile oval in 2:03.3.
“She came back kind of nice,” says trainer Wayne Langille. “She doesn’t seem much faster than she was last year, but she’s a nice gaited little filly and she’s got good manners.”
Competing in three races in the month of June, Designable was second at Flamboro Downs on June 6 and then off the board in a June 20 start over the Dundas oval. In the June 28 Trillium event at Woodstock Raceway the winner of $137,147 drew Post 7 in a division with several Gold fillies and had to settle for fifth spot.
Designable and Langille will be looking for their second Grassroots victory from Post 2 in Race 13 on Saturday. Among the fillies they will face are Grassroots regular Taffeta Seelster from Post 5 and former Gold Series competitor Mikestory from Post 7.
“She should be all right in there,” says Langille. “She trained good this week and she should be all right, but it’s tough racing.”
The Harley resident shares ownership on Designable with James Barton of Branchton, Jeff Adamson of Brantford and Terence Adamson of Harley. The veteran horseman will head for Sudbury early Friday morning and joining Designable in the trailer for the first time will be stablemate Armbro Aperitif.
A daughter of King Conch who was a $27,000 yearling purchase in the fall of 2001, Armbro Aperitif qualified for the first time at Flamboro Downs on June 25. The filly finished fourth, trotting her own mile in 2:06.3 and Langille hopes that Saturday’s contest will be a good learning experience for her.
“It’s the first start for her, she’s just coming off a qualifier,” says the trainer-driver. “She’s starting to trot kind of nice, but she hasn’t gone that fast yet.
“She probably wouldn’t be racing if the other one wasn’t going.”
Owned by Allister Webster of Wyoming and Slabtown Farm of Croton, Armbro Aperitif will make her debut from Post 5 in the eleventh race.
Langille will also compete in the ninth race, steering Carl Jamieson trainee Lukes Viviane from Post 7.
The three-year-old trotting fillies are featured in the last five races — 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 — on Sudbury Downs’ Saturday program, with the first race of the evening going postward at 7:15 pm.