SARNIA, JUNE 16, 2003 — Hiawatha Horse Park hosts an impressive line up of three-year-old pacing fillies in their second Grassroots event on Thursday evening.
Five winners from the Grassroots season opener at Dresden Raceway will be looking to pad their point tally at Hiawatha, including Gowen Away, who will start from Post 4 in the seventh race.
Trainer John Pentland of London says the post position should suit the filly’s front-end style. In five starts this season Gowen Away has posted three wins and one third, setting the pace for at least half the race in each victory. “She definitely likes to be on the front, or near the front. She’s head strong,” says Pentland ruefully. “She’s a hard horse to drive.”
The Precious Bunny lass is one of two fillies the London resident will harness in Sarnia on Thursday and while Gowen Away has more speed than stablemate Shes So Lucky, Pentland is still working on getting her to relax during a race.
“She’s got the ability, if she would just settle down to where you could race her out of a hole,” he says. “If one of them was to make that next level (Gold Series) I would think it would be Gowen Away. If she puts her mind to it she could be a good filly.”
Pentland trains Gowen Away for his wife Natalie Pentland and Jon Tondeur of London and James Millier of Dorchester. The stubborn filly is a full sister to Catch This Bunny, who has earned $127,376 under Pentland’s tutelage.
Shes So Lucky starts from Post 9 in the third race, and while she does not have Gowen Away’s raw speed, Pentland has been impressed with the Camluck daughter’s versatility and consistency through nine races this season.
“She’s sound, really smart and a handy filly to drive,” says the veteran trainer, who shares ownership on Shes So Lucky with John Curk of Dorchester, Antonio Mele of London and Nunzio Bitondo of Richmond Hill. “She’s really eager from behind. She definitely races her best from behind.”
Among the fillies Shes So Lucky will face in Race 3 is Change Of Address, who will start from Post 2. The Die Laughing daughter, trained by London resident Daryl Roberts, makes her Grassroots debut at Hiawatha after opting out of the Dresden event.
“She’s a big mare and on a half-mile track she gets hitting the bike a bit so we decided to race her at Woodbine instead,” says Roberts. “The five-eighths at Sarnia gives her a better shot.”
Roberts, who will also start Warrawee Emma from Post 6 in the fifth race and Individual Gal from Post 4 in the eighth, trains Change Of Address for breeder Thomas Lawson of London. The filly heads into Thursday’s battle off a fifth-place finish in a 1:54 mile at Woodbine Racetrack on May 30 and was a 1:56 winner at Mohawk Racetrack on May 1.
Hiawatha Horse Park raises the curtain on Thursday night’s card at 7:10 pm, with the three-year-old pacing fillies dominating the program in Races 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10.