SARNIA, ON — Hiawatha Horse Park’s 2004 Ontario Sires Stakes season starts off with a bang on Thursday when 71 three-year-old trotting fillies head to the Sarnia oval for Grassroots action.
The fillies will vie for a total of $120,000 in eight Grassroots divisions, with a host of newcomers to the program primed to tackle last season’s stars. Local horseman Peter Core will harness Open Complement in the fifth race and the Wyoming resident is hoping the filly is able to make an impact on the Grassroots scene this season.
“She raced a couple of times last year, but it took me three months to get her shoeing right,” recalls Core. “Once I got it figured out she got better every week, but she got sick after (the last Grassroots) and I ended up turning her out.”
Core resumed the filly’s lessons in mid-January and has been pleased with the U S Open daughter’s progress through the last four months.
“She’s coming along well. She’s still green, but she’s mature enough to be racing in this event,” says the trainer-driver. “I just want to get a few good races into her and let her try to show her stuff.”
Core trains Open Complement for breeder Ronald Bailey of St. Marys and will pilot her from Post 5 in the fifth race on Thursday.
“The five-hole is a good spot. It gives you a chance to kind of go out of there and get positioned somewhere,” he says. “She hasn’t raced enough to dictate the race, she’s going to have to take what’s given. If they go fast we’ll come from behind, if not we’ll go to the front.”
The filly’s familiarity with Hiawatha’s five-eighths mile oval may give her an edge over her rivals on Thursday, who have to ship from as far afield as Montreal, QC.
“She might be a little more comfortable being right here at home,” says Core, who stables his 16-horse string on the Hiawatha grounds. “She’ll be in her own stall and I think it will be an advantage.”
Open Complement heads into the race off a 2:02.1 qualifier at Hiawatha on May 13 and also schooled over the track last week. Among the fillies Core will have his eye on are Celias Counsel Series finalist Very Violet from Post 4 and two-time winner Dutchess Of Kent from Post 8.
The talented three-year-old trotting fillies kick off Hiawatha Horse Park’s Thursday evening program in Race 1 at 7:30 pm and are also featured in Races 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.