WINDSOR, ON — Windsor Raceway fans got everything they were promised, and more, as some of Ontario’s finest three-year-old racehorses put on a spectacular show in the Grassroots Championship on Sunday evening.
High speed, close finishes and popular local victories were all on the menu as the sophomore Grassroots competitors wrapped up an outstanding season, and Windsor-based trainer Bob McIntosh set the tone for the evening when Crown Lavec sprinted away from the trotting filly field to earn the division crown.
After her fourth-place finish in last week’s Semifinal, McIntosh made a change to Crown Lavec’s equipment and driver Don McElroy said that the change resulted the precisely the kind of performance the pair had hoped for.
“After the Semifinal Bob put a blind bridle on her and it worked perfect. She raced up a storm,” said McElroy. “She was very strong, pulling the whole way. She was tremendous.”
Leaving from Post 3 McElroy sent the Mr Lavec daughter to the front and never needed to look over his shoulder as Crown Lavec ground out fractions of :28.1, :59 and 1:28.3 en route to the 1:59.3 triumph. Royal Waltz finished two and three-quarter lengths back and Zola Smiger was two more to the rear in third.
Martin Sternberg of Brookville, NY and Alvin Katz of Roslyn Heights, NY share ownership on Crown Lavec, who bumped her lifetime earnings to $267,263 with the victory, her fifth in 14 starts this season.
Two races later McIntosh and McElroy scored another triumph, recalling the three-win night at last season’s sophomore Championships that clinched the Johnston and Lampman Cup titles for the pair.
Using a completely different strategy, McElroy eased Its A Cam Lie off the gate and landed in seventh spot as Semifinal winner Signature Seelster rolled the field through sharp opening fractions of :27 and :53.4. Once heavy favourite Maddy Girl cleared to the front McElroy sent Its A Cam Lie to the outside, drafting behind Daylon Choice, and then made a bold three-wide move heading by the 1:25.1 three-quarters and took aim on the leaders.
Maddy Girl, Signature Seelster and Its A Cam Lie battled down the stretch, sending the roaring Windsor fans to their feet, but at the wire it was Its A Cam Lie who pushed ahead by three-quarters of a length to score the 1:55.2 triumph.
“We thought after last week that we might have a shot at Maddy Girl,” said McElroy. “Bob tightened her head pole up and had a little vet work done on her because he thought she might have been a little sore and she raced wonderful tonight.”
McIntosh, who was in Harrisburg, PA for the annual yearling sale, and his longtime partners CSX Stables of Liberty Center, OH bred and own Its A Cam Lie, who improved her 2002 resume to five wins, three seconds and one third in 17 starts and boosted her lifetime earnings to $130,139.
Maddy Girl held on for second and Signature Seelster took home the third-place finisher’s share of the $100,000 purse.
Attention shifted to the colts in for the next two Championship events and local favourite Carrland Buddy delivered an impressive performance in the trotting colt event to earn a well deserved Grassroots crown.
The Flak Bait son and Jason Gale powered to the front from Post 4 and hit the opening quarter in a snappy :27.3. As the pair headed toward the :57.3 half Semifinal winners Pitandthepandulum and Mario Baillargeon tried to elbow them to the rear, but Carrland Buddy refused to yield and carried on to a 1:27.1 three-quarters.
By the top of the Windsor stretch Carrland Buddy had increased his lead to two lengths and when the track photographer’s camera flashed at the wire he was three and three-quarter lengths ahead of the competition. The 1:58 victory was a personal best for Carrland Buddy, who has accumulated $364,967 for the Smart Cat Stable of Elmira over the past two seasons.
“I was surprised when I saw he was 8 to 1 in the program. This colt has made more money lifetime than any other horse in the race and more than any other horse in the race this year,” said Dennis Fairall of Windsor, who along with his wife Janet, is a partial owner in all the Smart Cat Stable horses.
“I was little bit worried when Jason looked over his shoulder at Mario Baillargeon and Pitandthepandulum, but when Jason drove on down the backstretch and opened up I wasn’t worried any more because I know how tough Carrland Buddy is.”
Jetset Matt closed well to pick up the second-place cheque while Muskoka Connection took full advantage of a trip behind Carrland Buddy to earn third-place honours. Zirnis’s second entry Total Mayhem earned eight per cent of the purse with his fourth-place effort.
Another colt rated lightly by handicappers came trumps for his American owners in the pacing colt Final. Wilder Echo delivered a scorching front-end performance to record the win for The Gusty Stable of Rolling Hills Est., CA, using a strategy worked out by driver Al Cullen as soon as he saw the results of the post position draw on Thursday.
“I knew I had to get to the front. The horse raced really well when he raced in Sarnia (Oct. 5) on the front end so I wanted to take the same route,” said the Windsor resident.
Leaving from Post 4 the colt rocketed through fractions of :26.3, :54.4 and 1:22.3 and then dug in for a stretch duel that saw the top three finishers separated by less than one length. Wilder Echo held on to the victory by a mere neck and shaved almost a full second off his personal best with the 1:52.2 victory.
Long shot DM Billy The Kid, owned by trainer-driver Donald Rankin, Jr of McGregor and Don MacDonald of Amherstburg, finished second and fan favourite Corona Grande, owned by trainer Jack Darling of Windsor and Daniel Smith of London earned third-place honours.
“When I looked over and saw 1:22.3 at the three-quarters I said, �Let’s rock,'” said Cullen. “He was in very tough tonight with some great horses. Judge Cam came at him every step of the mile and made him work for the win and with Corona Grande sitting in the two-hole when we came off the final turn I knew I had to get home. It was an honour to drive this horse and a great pleasure.”
Wilder Echo’s victory was a fitting end to a season that saw the sophomore competitors lower speed records across the province. The Grassroots Championships also brought Windsor Raceway’s 2002 Ontario Sires Stakes season to a close.
In addition to the outstanding racing on Sunday night, Windsor and area fans were treated to one track record setting performance and two Ontario Sires Stakes record miles this season. The Ontario Sires Stakes program looks forward to returning to the Windsor oval in 2003 when a new crop of two and three-year-old Standardbred will be eager to write their names in the program’s history books.