CLINTON, ON — Daniel McCann makes the trip to Clinton Raceway every Sunday, but this week the Parkhill resident will set out for his local oval with even more anticipation than usual.

Clinton kicks off its Ontario Sires Stakes season on Sunday, June 24, and McCann’s three-year-old trotting filly H S Gingersnap will be looking for a share of the Grassroots lucre from Post 4 in the fourth division.

“I told the boys to have her ready for my hometown track,” admits McCann. “We just qualified her in trotting hopples on Monday (June 18), so I’ve got my toes crossed.”

Trainer Wayne Henry and driver Trevor Henry of Arthur share ownership on H S Gingersnap with McCann, and the partners hope the addition of trotting hopples to the filly’s equipment bag will help her avoid the kind of mishap that cost her a top placing in the Grassroots season opener at Hanover Raceway on June 9. Sitting second as the field turned for home, H S Gingersnap went off stride and wound up being placed from sixth back to seventh for failing to lose ground.

The Hanover error was the last straw in an up and down early season that has seen the Fiesty G G daughter earn just over $2,000 from one fourth and two fifth-place finishes, and make two costly breaks.

“She’s inconsistent that way,” laments McCann. “She just kind of loses concentration at the head of the lane. She’s got some go to her, but she just forgets where she is.”

McCann and the Henry’s know the filly has ability, as a two-year-old she won two Grassroots events and finished in the top three in two Trillium events and a Flamboro Breeders division, earning a total of $41,734. And her full sister Indys Kylee has banked a total of $222,443 in her career to date.

“She’s been pretty good to us,” says McCann. “And we are looking to do some good on Sunday.”

McCann and the Henry’s are also hoping to have some luck on Saturday evening, when H S Gingersnap’s stablemate Tymal Timeout will tackle the Gold Series fillies at Georgian Downs.

“I hope it’s just the start of a real hot summer of harness racing,” quips McCann.

Trevor Henry and H S Gingersnap will do their part to crank up the temperature in Clinton Raceway’s fifth race on Sunday. They face a field of six that features three other Grassroots veterans and three newcomers to the provincial program, all of whom are looking for their first win of the season.

The first Grassroots division will parade on to the Clinton Raceway oval at 1:30 pm on Sunday, with the other divisions slated as Races 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 10.

For complete entries please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/eclntnsu.html