INNISFIL, ON — Heading into the second last Grassroots event of their Ontario Sires Stakes career, the pressure is on the three-year-old trotting fillies to secure a berth in the lucrative post season. For many of the fillies hovering near the cut off point, a top two finish at Georgian Downs on Saturday evening could be the deciding factor.
Among the fillies hoping to make a leap closer to the top 16 is Shesmokesem, a recent addition to the Paul Sloan stable. Sloan’s partner Stuart Millar of Scarborough purchased the Yentls Image daughter at the Northern Standardbred Sale on Sept. 7 for just $8,500 and in her first start under their guidance (Sept. 17) she scored a 2:02.4 victory in a maiden contest at Flamboro Downs.
“I wasn’t even at the sale. Stu told me he was going to look at her and he phoned me afterwards and said, �She’ll be at the barn in 10 minutes,'” says Cookstown resident Sloan. “And possibly, the way she raced in her first start for us, she may be a bargain.”
Shesmokesem will make her fourth Grassroots start from Post 7 in the fourth race at Georgian Downs on Saturday, and Sloan and Millar hope she can add to the 17 points she has earned through one third and one fifth-place finish in the provincial program.
“It would be a nice Cinderella story if she could do some good in there,” says Sloan. “She was bearing in a little in the turns at Flamboro so I would imagine she’d be a wee bit better on a five-eighths.”
If the winner of $9,793 lifetime fails in her bid for a post season berth Sloan says she will continue to race during the remaining months of 2003, working her way up the ranks of non-winners at the smaller ovals across the province.
“She’s only got eight or nine thousand made life so in the conditioned classes she could work her way up without going too fast and maybe make some money,” explains the trainer. “Stu’s thought when he bought her was, as a fall back position, she could be a $5,500 claimer and still be in for more than we paid for her.”
Dave Boughton will pilot Shesmokesem on Saturday and the duo will face a field of nine that includes a pair of fillies hoping to maintain their position in the top 16 — Northern Pixie will start from Post 4 and Willow Royal from Post 9.
Division leaders Sephora and Designable earned favourable post positions for the second last Grassroots skirmish, with Sephora starting from Post 1 in the first race and last year’s Grassroots champion Designable starting from Post 2 in Race 5.
Georgian Downs features the three-year-old trotting fillies in Races 1, 2, 4, 5, and 9. The fillies kick off the Saturday evening program at 7:30 pm.