WOODSTOCK, ON — An impressive line up of two-year-old pacing fillies will make their way to Woodstock Raceway on Saturday afternoon for their Grassroots wild card.
The top Grassroots fillies will be joined by several of their Gold Series peers for the wild card event, which allows the top level fillies to compete in the Grassroots without having to miss the next Gold event. Among the youngsters hoping to use the wild card to their advantage is Scott McNiven’s Shami Cami.
The Run The Table daughter made her provincial debut in the July 20 Grassroots at Georgian Downs, romping to a 12 length victory in 1:57.1. Off that result her trainer and owners Kimberley McNiven of Putnam, Twin B Stables Ltd. and Bradley McNiven of Embro decided to allow the filly to try her hand against the Gold Series contestants at Flamboro Downs and she delivered a runner-up finish in the Aug. 2 Elimination and a fifth in the Aug. 9 Final.
“She had the six-hole in the elimination and finished second, and then she had the eight-hole in the Final and finished fifth. We were really pleased, she had two bad posts and she got money both times,” says Scott McNiven. “She’s not as good as the top ones, like (Gold division leader) Northern Harmony, but maybe after a few more starts she will be.”
The filly will attempt to add a second Grassroots trophy to her collection from Post 3 in the first race on Woodstock’s 1:15 pm program and McNiven says her future direction will hinge on the outcome of Saturday’s race.
“The next Gold event is Sept. 22 at Windsor, I think that’s probably where we’ll aim her for, but if she doesn’t happen to race well at Woodstock or comes up flat in an overnight after that we’ll stick to the Grassroots,” explains the trainer. “She’ll let us know over the next two weeks.
“She’s fresh, she’s training well, but she probably needs a few starts. We didn’t pay her into much and some of these fillies have enough starts under their belts they are starting to go in 1:54 every week. When you haven’t been there yet it’s a little tougher.”
Garnering a second Grassroots win would have the added benefit of securing Shami Cami a spot in the post season. The 50 points she earned in July have kept her in the top 16 in the Grassroots standing, while the 30 she earned in her Gold Series outing have her sitting in position for a berth in the $300,000 Super Final.
“I was looking at going to Rideau Carleton for the Gold (July 19 and 26), that’s the one she was ready for, but she got sick and lost two weeks so our only option was Georgian Downs for the Grassroots,” says McNiven. “It’s worked out for the best. I’d much rather see them come along slowly at their own pace and it gives us options.”
Among the fillies Shami Cami will face on Saturday is Pat Me Up, who finished third in her Gold Elimination at Flamboro Downs and sixth in the Final and also has two Grassroots wins to her credit. Greg Drew of Merlin owns, trains and drives the Gothic Dream daughter, who will start from Post 1 in Saturday’s first race.
In addition to Race 1, the talented two-year-old pacing fillies are featured in Races 3, 6, 9, 11 and 12 on Woodstock Raceway’s 1:15 pm program Saturday.