ELMIRA, ON — Ode To Earl captured his second straight Grassroots win in a nail biting finish at Elmira Raceway on Monday evening. The Keith Kurtz trainee and driver Jim McClure squeaked out a narrow 2:07 victory in the final strides after sitting fourth through most of the mile.
C S Ruff Start and fan favourite Wireless Image led the field of two-year-old trotting colts through fractions of :33.1, 1:03.3 and 1:34, while McClure and Ode To Earl played a waiting game from the middle of the pack. As the colts straightened for home Wireless Image made a break that took him out of the picture and the colts dogging the leaders kicked into overdrive. At the wire Ode To Earl emerged the victor by a neck over Hieway Earl and a length and a quarter over C S Ruff Start.
Kurtz trains the Earl colt for his brother Gary Kurtz of Ariss and Murray Cox of Rockwood. The win was Ode To Earl’s second of the season in four starts and moved him into second spot in the Grassroots standings with 105 points.
Snoops Bytes established a commanding lead atop the standings with a 2:06.3 victory over Earl Vic Dol and Good Riddance in the fourth race. The Kawartha Snoopy son is undefeated since moving into the Grassroots from the Gold Series on Aug. 5. His trio of Grassroots victories have earned him a total of 150 points and $30,223. Trainer Ray Paquette’s Cedar Valley Farms of Port Hope bred and own the talented young trotter, who has been driven in all four of his starts by Rick Webb.
JM Vangogh recorded the quickest win in the six Grassroots divisions at Elmira Raceway on Monday. Another son of Earl, JM Vangogh stopped the clock at 2:04.2 after leading throughout most of the mile. Hall of Fame horseman Ron Waples trains and drives the winner of $16,463 for owner Paul Chambers of Carrsville, VA and has engineered a pair of victories for the youngster in three starts for a total of 100 Grassroots points and third spot in the standings.
Armbro Acme captured the second Grassroots division in 2:04.3 for Gilles and Huguette Caouette of Campbellville. The Gold Series regular took advantage of the event’s wild card status to pocket some Ontario Sires Stakes purse money and boost his record to two wins and one second in seven starts.
Michel Rivest trains Armbro Acme and Tom Strauss drove the Balanced Image colt to the wire-to-wire score over Hidden Profits and Mr Tantalizer.
The other two divisions went to Bone Crusher in 2:04.4 and Zoltar Seelster in 2:07.2.
The two-year-old trotting colts make their second last Grassroots stop at Georgian Downs on Sept. 21 while the Gold Series regulars return to action on Sept. 26 at Mohawk Racetrack. Ontario Sires Stakes excitement returns to Elmira Raceway on Friday, Sept. 27 for the final time in 2003 with Grassroots action for the two-year-old trotting fillies.