Kawartha Downs hosted the two-year-old pacing fillies on Saturday evening in five $24,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots divisions, and Epoxy Queen distinguished herself with a commanding seven length victory over the sixth race field
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Woodville, ON resident Brad Rae piloted Epoxy Queen and dropped the Camluck miss into second through the early going, on the heels of fan favourite Lucky Taryn (Mike Saftic), who posted a :28.3 opening quarter. Confident in his mount, Rae sent Epoxy Queen to the front before the :57.2 half and the pair had opened up a three and one-quarter length gap by the 1:26.1 three-quarters.
Epoxy Queen maintained her sharp tempo around the final turn and down the stretch, reaching the wire seven lengths ahead of her peers in 1:55. Brush With Royalty (Robert Shepherd) closed well to earn the second-place share of the $24,000 purse, edging out Synergy Seelster (Gord Brown). Fan favourite Lucky Taryn had to settle for fourth.
Rae crafted the winning trip for trainer Eric Adams and owner-breeder Millar Farms of Newmarket, ON. The win was Epoxy Queen’s second straight; she posted a 1:54.4 score in an overnight event at Mohawk Racetrack on August 19. Through five lifetime starts the talented youngster has two wins and one second to her credit for earnings of $29,360.
Driver Mike Saftic made two appearances in the Kawartha winner’s circle with his Grassroots mounts. The Campbellville, ON resident opened the evening with a 1:57.4 score aboard The Big Macher in the first division.
Starting from Post 5, Saftic allowed the Bob McIntosh trainee to ease off the starting gate and then sent her up the outside after the lead once the field had reached the halfway marker. The Big Macher hit the front before the three-quarters and never looked back, pacing home to a one and three-quarter length victory over favourite Pocket Of Gold (Dave Wall) and Pindars Grin (Paul Cameron).
Windsor, ON resident McIntosh trains The Big Macher for owner-breeder Randi Biederman of Maidstone, ON. The daughter of Mach Three and Vodka On Ice is flawless through three starts, two of them in Grassroots action, giving her a share of top spot in the division standings at the halfway mark in the season.
Saftic picked up his second Grassroots victory with Montenegro in the fifth race, opting for a front end strategy. The Camluck daughter charged away from Post 4 and was two lengths on top by the time she reached the :28.2 opening quarter. After rolling through a :59.2 half and 1:27.2 three-quarters, Montenegro dug hard in the stretch to hold off fan favourite Lyons Susan (Robert Shepherd) and record the half length victory in 1:56.2. Machs Little Filly (Brad Rae) was one and three-quarter lengths back in third.
Louie Eftimiadis of Newmarket, ON trains Montenegro for Gerald Mijal of Westland, Michigan. The filly made her provincial debut at the Gold Series level in July, but moved down to the Grassroots for the August 11 event at Grand River Raceway where she finished second to Pocket Of Gold. Saturday’s win was the first in eight starts for Montenegro, who has also posted two seconds and two thirds for earnings of $59,020.
Lindsay, ON resident Reg Gassien picked up a catch drive aboard Trusting in the seventh race and turned it into a Grassroots victory. The pair stalked pacesetter Blueridge Nubian (Robert Shepherd) from the outside through the last half of the race and then battled down the stretch to a quarter length victory in 1:59.2. Blueridge Nubian finished a hard fought second, just one-half length ahead of fan favourite Blue Monster (Mike Saftic).
The win was the second of the season for Trusting, who is conditioned by Ridgetown, ON resident Scott Osterhout. Sean Hodgson of Whitby, ON owns the daughter of Life Sign and $210,263 winner Talking Picture.
The other Grassroots division went to Modern Best and Michael Whelan, who went gate to wire in 2:00.2, besting Ramadawn and Emerging Market. The Modern Art lass is trained by Milton, ON resident Ben Wallace for owner-breeders DM Stables LLC and William Rufenacht of Archbold, Ohio. The talented filly is now four-for-five this season and shares ownership of top spot in the two-year-old pacing filly standings with The Big Macher and Lyons Susan.
The fillies will make their fourth Grassroots start at Clinton Raceway on September 5, and Kawartha Downs fans will get a second look at some of the freshman distaffers when the Fraserville oval hosts the fourth Gold Series event of their season on October 2.
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(With files from OSS)