SUDBURY, ON — Ontario Sires Stakes action returns to Sudbury Downs on Friday evening with four Grassroots divisions for the three-year-old pacing fillies, and trainer Robert Bodkin is looking forward to having a starter in Race 7.
The Hanmer resident will send Evans Annie after a piece of the provincial pie from Post 6 on Friday night and the only thing that would make the outing sweeter would be his name on the filly’s ownership papers.
“I bred two of them to race in the Sires Stakes but neither made it so it’s a real treat, especially for Bobby,” says Bodkin, whose son Bobby handles driving duties on the filly. “It’s just too bad it’s not one of our own, but the thrill is still there for the kids.”
Bodkin trains the Chill Factor daughter for breeder Thomas Alcock of Sault Ste. Marie, who felt Evans Annie deserved a shot at the OSS after showing consistent improvement through her six starts this season.
“She’s pretty green, but she is getting better. She tries, what she is lacking is experience,” explains Bodkin. “It’s because she shows that promise that Tom wanted to try her in the Sires Stakes and I would think that if she does well, even if she doesn’t make any money but races well, he’ll probably want to try her again.”
Evans Annie heads into Friday’s $27,133 contest from a non-winners event at Sudbury Downs on June 29 that impressed her trainer, in spite of her eighth-place finish.
“In her last race she finished back, but she raced good,” he recalls. “She had an outside post, but she made a good move down the backstretch. I think the faster the races she gets in to the faster she will go. She gets in a race and races all right, but she still doesn’t know what it’s all about yet.”
The winner of $9,244 made four starts at two before enjoying a winter holiday, capturing two and finishing second in one. In six starts this season she has a record of one win and one third.
Most of the fillies she will face on Friday night have a more extensive racing resume to their credit, including Eyes Wide Shut, who was a finalist in the Grassroots Championship last season and has one second and one third in OSS action this year. The Jack Darling trainee will attempt to add a win to her record from Post 5 in the seventh race.
Sudbury Downs sends its first race onto the half-mile oval at 7:15 pm and then shines the spotlight on the three-year-old pacing fillies in Races 3, 5, 7, and 9.