ELORA, ON — Lucky Kathy paced to the quickest Grassroots victory over an off track at Grand River Raceway on Friday evening, going gate to wire in 1:59.1.
The two-year-old pacing filly and driver Paul Mackenzie took full advantage of Post 1, attaining the lead heading for the :28.1 opening quarter and reeling off fractions of :58.4 and 1:28.2 on their way to the one and a half length win over Triple Fantasy and Witness To Fame.
Louie Eftimiadis trains the Camluck daughter for owner-breeder Gerald Mijal of Westland, MI, and the pair will be holding their breath through the next two weeks waiting to see if Lucky Kathy will land a spot in the Grassroots post season. Combined with a second-place finish in her one other Grassroots start, Friday’s victory gave the filly a total of 75 points, just shy of the cut off for the top 16. However, if any of the point earners sitting above her fail to enter for the Semifinal on Oct. 28 at Hiawatha Horse Park, Lucky Kathy could find herself back in the game.
The win behind Lucky Kathy was the second of two driving victories for Paul Mackenzie, who also drove longshot Megan L Down to a 2:00.2 triumph in the fourth race.
Leaving from Post 5 Mackenzie settled Megan L Down on the rail in fourth as Youronechancefancy took the field of freshman fillies through fractions of :29.1, :59 and 1:28.4. As the fillies turned for home Mackenzie asked Megan L Down for one last burst of speed and the Astreos daughter responded with a strong effort that propelled her to the one length victory over favourite Eye Max. Youronechancefancy settled for third.
Trained by Ian Downey for breeders Downey Stables of Saint John, NB, Megan L Down has captured a trio of victories this season but only one in Grassroots action, leaving her in the same position as Lucky Kathy. With 75 points earned through one win, one third, one fourth and one fifth-place finish she will have to wait and see what happens with the fillies above her before booking a trailer ride to Sarnia for the Oct. 28 Semifinals.
Borderlinegorgious wrapped up the regular season with a victory in the third race to secure top spot in the point standings. The Rambaran daughter, trained by Dean Wall and driven by “Mr. OSS” Dave Wall, hung on for a half length victory over Rustle N Sizzle off a front end performance that saw her lay down fractions of :29.4, 1:00.3 and 1:30.4 en route to the 2:00 victory. She’ll B Aknockout rounded out the top three in the $15,000 contest.
Walltyme Stables owns Borderlinegorgious, who racked up an impressive record of three wins, two seconds and one third in six Grassroots starts for a total of 212 points, 26 points ahead of Witness To Fame.
Local filly Fabulous Flori, owned by breeder Paul Lindsey of Fergus, finished third in the fourth division, four lengths behind winner Natural Luck.
Natural Luck survived a tough trip up the outside to secure the 2:00 victory, keeping a stubborn neck in front of Taylorlane Brinly at the wire. Reg Gassien drove Natural Luck to the win for trainer John Burns and lessees Joe Thomson of Phoenixville, PA and Joann Thomson of Chesapeake City, MA. The win was the Camluck daughter’s second of the season and boosted her up the point standings into the top 16.
The other Grassroots divisions went to Fannies Fortune in 1:59.3, Helena Handbag in 1:59.3 and Angelina Seelster in 1:59.2. The top 16 point earners now head to Hiawatha Horse Park on Oct. 28 for two Semifinals, with the top four finishers from each Semifinal returning to the Sarnia oval on Nov. 6 for the $100,000 Grassroots Championship.
Saturday’s Grassroots event wrapped up Grand River Raceway’s inaugural Ontario Sires Stakes season, which featured seven outstanding Gold Series and Grassroots events. The provincial program will return to the Elora oval in 2005 for a second year of excitement, featuring some of the top two and three-year-old trotters and pacers ever bred in Ontario.