CLINTON, ON — On Sunday, Clinton Raceway fans enjoyed a beautiful afternoon of harness racing during the track’s biennial salute to harness racing’s legendary drivers. The afternoon’s highlights included eight divisions of two-year-old trotting fillies battling in Grassroots action and a narrow victory by William “Bud” Fritz in the Legends Trot.

Fritz was not the only legend to grace Clinton’s winner’s circle on Sunday as Bill O’Donnell captured one Grassroots division and the Joe Dunsmore Memorial Trot, and Ron Waples piloted Party Hall to the fastest win of the Grassroots divisions.

Leaving from Post 8 in the fifth Grassroots division, Waples and Party Hall settled in fourth on the rail as Lukes Justine took the fillies through fractions of :30, 1:01.1 and 1:33.2. Heading by the three-quarters Waples sent Party Hall after the lead and the filly cruised by the leaders and trotted off to the one and one-quarter length victory in 2:04.2. Lukes Justine stayed game for second and Orillia Seelster landed the third-place finisher’s share of the $15,000 provincial purse.

Denfield resident Chad Milner trains Party Hall for Ivan Sugg of Deshler, OH. Sugg acquired the filly for a mere $5,000 at last fall’s Kentucky Standardbred Yearling Sale and has already banked $18,479 on her behalf through six starts. After starting her season at the Gold Series level, Party Hall has now captured two Grassroots victories, giving her a total of 100 points toward a berth in the season ending Semifinal.

Hall of Famer O’Donnell claimed his Grassroots victory aboard Delcrest Luckygirl in the afternoon’s first race. The pair eased out of Post 1 and landed in fourth, then moved to the outside behind Waples and Pepper as pacesetter Saucy Sarah took the field to the 1:36 three-quarters. Heading down the stretch O’Donnell kicked Delcrest Luckygirl into overdrive and the filly edged a head in front of Saucy Sarah to claim the 2:06.4 victory in her first start. Pepper settled for third, seven and three-quarter lengths behind the leaders.

Trainer Douglas Delaney and Gordon Delaney of Acton bred and share ownership on the Mr Lavec daughter through their Delcrest Stables.

Strikingly Luvable earned her second straight Grassroots victory in Race 2, the first of two Grassroots divisions captured by reigning Johnston Cup winner Ross Henry. The Striking Sahbra daughter got a flawless steer from Trevor Henry, shadowing pacesetter Incredibly Elegant through fractions of :31, 1:03.4 and 1:35.1 before powering down the stretch to a seven length victory in 2:06. Dream Tune closed hard to finish second, while Incredibly Elegant finished third.

The Henry Stable of Arthur and Alan Bodin of Rockwood share ownership on Strikingly Luvable, who boasts a three-race win streak in provincial action. In addition to her July 31 Grassroots win at Sudbury Downs, she captured a Trillium Series division at Hanover Raceway on Aug. 10.

The Henry’s scored their second victory in the last Grassroots division, which saw Wayne Henry pilot CS R Hope to a gate-to-wire score over Keystone Alberta and Tracey’s Memory in 2:04.4. The CR Renegade daughter is now flawless through three Grassroots starts and shares the lead atop the division standings with St Lads Calcium, who also captured her division at Clinton on Sunday.

St Lads Calcium boosted her point tally to 150 with a 2:05.3 effort in the ninth race that saw her take command heading toward the three-quarters and power away to a three and three-quarter length win over Pimlicos Treasure and Angel Seelster.

Gordon Rayner drove St Lads Calcium to the win for trainer Wayne Langille of Harley and his partner Arthur Quintanilha of Millgrove. The Earl daughter now has three wins, one second and one third to her credit through five starts.

The other Grassroots divisions went to Image Lane in 2:09.3, Womanly Image in 2:05.2 and Anns Promise in 2:07.3. The talented two-year-old trotting fillies return to Grassroots action on Sept. 5 at Dresden Raceway.

Sunday’s contest wraps up Clinton Raceway’s 2005 Ontario Sires Stakes season, but fans can look forward to another dose of high stakes provincial action next summer when a fresh crop of young trotters and pacers will be eager to prove their mettle on the Grassroots stage.

For complete results please go to:

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