BELLEVILLE, ON — Sauble Ron leapt to the head of the two-year-old pacing colt class with an impressive victory in Grassroots action at Quinte Exhibition Raceway on Friday evening.
In spite of leaving from the outside Post 5, driver Stephen Byron sent the Fit For Life son straight to the front where he rocked through fractions of :30, 1:01 and 1:31.3 on his way to the 2:00.4 victory. Taylorlane Dare finished four lengths back in second, with Phil Lucky hot on his heels from third.
Larry Hall of Tara bred, owns and trains Sauble Ron, who is a half brother to former Ontario Sires Stakes winner Sauble Jackson ($209,926). The son of Fit For Life and Sauble Evelyn also captured his division in the Grassroots season opener on June 22 at Kawartha Downs and currently sits atop the freshman pacing colt division with a perfect 100 points.
Ray McLean, Jr. picked up a pair of Grassroots victories at Quinte on Friday, kicking things off with a 2:01 score aboard Mach It Paid in the first $20,735 division. The Mach Three colt powered up the outside to catch pacesetter Dr. Sharkey and pull away to a two and one-quarter length victory. Dr. Sharkey stayed game for second while Three Cents got up for third.
James Kay of Hamilton trains and shares ownership on Mach It Paid with Isaac Waxman of Ancaster. The colt started his Ontario Sires Stakes season with third and eighth-place finishes in the first Gold Series elimination and final. A $21,000 yearling at last fall’s Canadian Open Sale, Mach It Paid has returned $13,859 through three starts.
McLean’s second victory came in Race 8 with Mike Keeling trainee Village Victory. The Port Elgin resident once again opted to stalk the pacesetter and steal by in the stretch, and Village Victory sprinted away from the field to a five and three-quarter length triumph in 2:02. Pacesetter Blatantly Good overcame a break at the top of the stretch to hang on for second and Stormin Rustler survived a tough trip up the outside to be third.
Cambridge resident Keeling trains Village Jiffy son Village Victory for P C Wellwood Enterprises Inc. of Cambridge, breeder Charles Armstrong of Brampton and Robert Fasken of Oakville.
Todd Trites guided P H Jackpot to a 2:03.1 win in the second division, hanging on by a head over Machthemoment and Fiesty Baran. A fourth-place finisher in the Grassroots season opener, Million Dollar Cam son P H Jackpot is trained by William Allan McNeil for Dr. James Shive of Subenacadie, NS.
The other division went to the free-legged Hoofnhome, who sat on the outside through the entire mile and still had enough to put a nose in front of pacesetter Riyadhs Gold at the wire. Roseneath resident Brett Riley bred, owns and trains the Aces N Sevens son, who was a runner-up at Kawartha and currently sits in a two-way tie for second in the Grassroots point race. Regular reinsman Gord Brown was in the race bike for Friday’s impressive performance.
Hey Bo Diddy rounded out the top three in Race 5.
The two-year-old pacing colts are back in Grassroots action July 18 at Georgian Downs, while Ontario Sires Stakes excitement returns to Quinte Exhibition Raceway on Friday, Aug. 4 with Grassroots competition for the two-year-old trotting colts.
For complete results please go to:
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rblvlfr.html