FRASERVILLE, ON — Heading into the last regular season Grassroots event, Winbak Noah’s owners decided change was necessary if the colt was going to earn a berth in the post season. They sent the two-year-old pacer to Kawartha Downs’s leading trainer, Mark Winacott, and the move paid off in spades Saturday night as Winbak Noah captured his Grassroots division in a track record 1:53.

After firing off the starting gate from Post 6, driver Gord Brown never took his foot off the accelerator. Through fractions of :27, :55.3 and 1:24.1 Winbak Noah simply drew away from the field, hitting the wire five and one quarter lengths ahead of Shadowwavekillean and Golden Standard.

The mile lowered the 1:54.1 mark set by Presidential Alert in the Gold Series season opener on June 28 and established Winbak Noah as one of the horses to watch heading into next week’s Grassroots Semifinal. Tim Gillespie of Grafton and Charles and Jason Churchill of Colborne share ownership on Winbak Noah, who boosted his record to two wins and two thirds in eight starts.

Before Winbak Noah sizzled around the five-eighths mile oval in the second division, Kawartha Downs fans were already on their feet after the Fritz brothers attempted to score a triple dead heat in the first Grassroots contest.

Each driving a well regarded colt, Terry, Randy and Dale Fritz all had a shot at the Grassroots spoils in Race 2 and the brothers made their parents proud by doing their best to share it equally.

Leaving from Post 5, Wingandaprayer and Terry Fritz controlled the pace, laying down fractions of :27.3, :57.1 and 1:25.1. However, as the pair turned for home the field was gathering strength behind them, with Randy Fritz and Run For Gold coming up the outside and Dale Fritz and Back To Back Jack slipping out behind them from fourth.

The brothers and their respective mounts battled down the stretch and when the dust cleared Kawartha’s racing officials needed a magnifying glass to determine which member of the family had recorded the win. Moments later the judges admitted defeat and declared a dead heat between Terry Fritz and Wingandaprayer and Dale Fritz and Back To Back Jack, with Randy Fritz and Run For Gold just a quarter length back in third.

Robert Atkin trains Grinfromeartoear son Wingandaprayer for Millar Farms of Newmarket, while Walkerton resident Dale Fritz owns and trains Back To Back Jack, a son of Northern Luck.

Not to be out done by his siblings, Randy Fritz got his turn in the Kawartha winner’s circle after Race 6. The Carlisle resident piloted Clean Cut Kid to a personal best 1:56.3, hitting the wire two and a half lengths ahead of Fantasy Beau and Marcus The Brut.

Ron O’Neill of Cambridge trains Clean Cut Kid for his partners Lynda Franklin of Ingersoll, James Copeland of Woodstock and Steven Bay of Guelph. The Island Fantasy son squeaked into the post season with a record of one win and two seconds in his three Grassroots starts.

Three of the division’s top colts waged battle in the last Grassroots event, with Sudburysatrdaynite emerging the victor with an impressive 1:54.3 score. Acceptable Risk’s Grassroots win streak was halted at five as the division leader settled for second and Mythic Voyage closed well to finish third.

Campbellville resident Chance Stewart trains Sudburysatrdaynite for his partner Mike West of Georgetown. The consistent Northern Luck colt boasts a record of three wins, two seconds and two thirds in nine starts this season and wraps up the Grassroots program with a total of 212 points.

The other two Grassroots divisions went to Banana Joe’s Bar in 1:55.2 and Sauble Keith in 1:55.3.

The top 16 point earners will battle in a pair of Grassroots Semifinals at Georgian Downs on Saturday, Oct. 8, with the top four finishers from each Semifinal returning to the Innisfil oval to compete in the $100,000 Grassroots Championship on Oct. 15.

Saturday’s event lowers the curtain on another outstanding season of Ontario Sires Stakes action at Kawartha Downs. The provincial program will return to the five-eighths mile oval for more record setting action in 2006.

For complete results please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rkdfsa.html