BELLEVILLE, ON — Quinte Exhibition Raceway rings in the first long weekend of the summer with six exciting divisions of Ontario Sires Stakes action this Monday.
Over $100,000 will be up for grabs at the Belleville half mile as the three-year-old pacing fillies emerge from their winter hibernation onto the Grassroots scene. Forty-three talented young pacers will be looking for a place in the provincial sun, including first time Grassroots starter Mix N Match who will test her skills against the veteran Ontario Sires Stakes competitors from Post 6 in the second race.
“She’s a really good gaited pacer and she’s got some speed,” notes owner Howard Pearce of Sydenham. “This will be a good test for her. We’ll find out how good she is.”
Pearce shares ownership on the Albert Albert miss with trainer Mark Steacy of Lansdowne and David Reid of Glenburnie. The partners acquired the filly for a bargain $2,500 at the 2004 Canadian Classic Yearling Sale, but opted not to race her as a two-year-old due to some minor physical problems.
“We didn’t want to take a chance, and we thought it would be good to let her grow a little,” recalls Pearce, who was making his first foray back into the ownership game in over ten years. “Her problems were so minor that we brought her back in to training last fall and that’s why we got the early start this year.”
Mix N Match qualified for the first time on Dec. 30 at Hippodrome de Montreal and followed that up with a second practice round at the Montreal oval on Jan. 7. She made her racing debut at Kawartha Downs on Jan. 26 where she finished sixth and then returned to Kawartha for an ill-fated outing on Feb. 9.
“In her second lifetime start she went down real bad,” says Pearce. “Everyone came out okay, but she needed a month off to recover from the bruises and scrapes.”
After recuperating from the accident Mix N Match returned to qualifying action at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Mar. 30. One week later she was a solid runner-up in a maiden event at the Ottawa track, and the following week (April 14) she claimed her first victory with a 2:01.2 effort. In her third start at the novice level Mix N Match pared two-fifths of a second off her personal best with a 2:01 victory and then came back to finish seventh in an April 28 non-winners of two event timed in 1:56.2.
In her final prep before Monday’s Grassroots battle, Mix N Match and Mark Steacy were powering up the outside on a rain soaked Rideau Carleton surface when the horse in front of them made a break. Mix N Match was able to avoid a collision, but the effort knocked her off stride and out of contention. With the fall, the interference and now Post 6 in her Ontario Sires Stakes debut, Pearce and his partners figure the filly must be due for a change in fortune.
“I was in Mark’s barn this afternoon (Wednesday), and in all her starts she’s never had the rail, so I said, �We’re going to get the rail in Belleville.'” say Pearce with a wry chuckle.
“Oh well, that’s show business.”
Mix N Match will compete for the leading role in the first Grassroots division with six other fillies, including freshman Grassroots winner Maryanne Supreme, who starts from the advantageous Post 1.
The other five divisions are slated as Races 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 on Quinte Exhibition Raceway’s 1:35 pm program Monday.