DRESDEN, ON — Driver Randy Waples piloted four two-year-old pacing colts to victory in Grassroots action at Dresden Raceway on Monday afternoon. The leading reinsman scored with three colts trained by Hagersville resident Bill Robinson and one from the barn of New Jersey resident Gary Machiz.
Waples kicked off his winning afternoon with Au Rumba in the fourth race, guiding the Pacific Rocket son to a seven length 1:58.3 victory over Can You Tieitinabo and Daylon Hornet. The reigning Gold Final champion took advantage of the Grassroots wild card, which enables the top level competitors to drop down to the Grassroots without having to skip a corresponding Gold event, to improve his record to three wins and two seconds in seven starts for owner-breeder Robert Hamather of Exeter.
Four races later Waples made his second trip in front of the grandstand with Machiz trainee Video Express. The driver employed a different strategy with the Rustler Hanover colt, sitting patiently on the rail as favourite Firstline Royal and M U Stradaverius battled for the front end. Moving to within three-quarters of a length of the leaders through the final turn Video Express and Waples turned on the speed down the stretch to score the 1:59.3 victory. M U Stradaverius was one and one quarter lengths back in second, while Firstline Royal was forced to settle for third.
Machiz, who resides in Clarksburg, NJ, shares ownership on Video Express with Barry Rubenstein Farms of Washington, NY. The $57,000 yearling has recouped $10,500 of his purchase price after just three starts.
Robinson and Waples teamed up for their second victory in the fifth Grassroots division with Ask Again. Waples once again employed a come from behind strategy to land the Rustler Hanover colt his second straight Grassroots victory. The pair rocketed home to catch co-favourites and pacesetters Don McElroy and Make It Brief through the final strides, stopping the clock in 1:59. Casimir Cardshark rounded out the top three.
John Grant of Hornby owns Ask Again, who was a $47,000 acquisition at last fall’s Harrisburg Yearling Sale in Pennsylvania. The colt jumped up the Grassroots point standings with the win, which gives him a total of 100 points and a share of fourth spot in the division rankings.
The Robinson-Waples hat trick came in Race 12 when Mt Vernon Hanover hit the wire two and a half lengths on top in 1:59.1. Another son of Rustler Hanover, Mt Vernon Hanover ran down pacesetter Rustys Gold around the final turn to score his fourth win in five starts for owners Deena Rachel Frost of Delray Beach, FL, Gerald Smiley of Cote-Saint-Luc, QC, Norman Smiley of Boca Raton, FL and Sampson Street Stables of Old Forge, PA. Outrageous Luck paced home in third.
The fastest mile of the eight Grassroots divisions was recorded in Race 6 when Daylon Alert and Don McElroy roared around the half-mile oval to a 12 length victory in 1:57. The Camluck son is trained by Windsor’s Bob McIntosh for Robert Waxman of Ancaster and now sits in a tie for fourth spot in the Grassroots standings with Ask Again.
Mattjestic Pistol and Tanner Supreme finished the mile more than two seconds after Daylon Alert to earn the second and third-place finisher’s share of the $15,000 provincial purse.
The other divisions went to Trinket Island in 1:59.1, Artic Premium in 2:00.2 and division leader Armbro Avenue in 1:57.3.
The two-year-old pacing colts make their next Grassroots start on Sept. 28 at Hiawatha Horse Park, while the Gold colts head for Mohawk Racetrack on Sept. 27.
Sunday’s event wrapped up Dresden Raceway’s 2002 Ontario Sires Stakes schedule, which saw track records set by three-year-old trotting colt J Ls Sunny Boy and three-year-old pacing filly Armbro Wand. The OSS program looks forward to returning to the historic half-mile oval next summer, when a new crop of two and three-year-old Standardbreds will be eager to make their mark on the provincial circuit.