Both Hanover Raceway and Clinton Raceway will this weekend play host to the inaugural finals of the Grey Huron Stakes Series.
On Saturday night at Hanover Raceway, fillies will face the starting gate and take their best shots at a total of $50,000 purses over the two finals. On the pacing side of things, a clear favourite has emerged as the one to beat in the $29,000 dash.
Coming off five straight victories, Sonic Breeze will hope to pose for another photo in the Hanover winner’s circle.
Bill Kirkpatrick of Amherstberg, Ont. trains Sonic Breeze, a four-year-old Mach Three mare that is owned by Pamela Loomis. The duo, who have had the lass since she was a yearling, have always held a high opinion of her. However, Kirkpatrick has explained that Sonic Breeze suffered an injury as a two-year-old and was unable to make a start until four, thus missing the lucrative Ontario Sires Stakes program.
She’s making up for lost time quickly, having already bankrolled $51,330 in purses and triumphed in one third of her first 15 lifetime starts.
When asked if he expected the success Sonic Breeze has had in 2012, Kirkpatrick replied, “We always thought she was a nice mare, but we didn’t think we’d have this kind of success. It’s a pleasant surprise.”
There’s been plenty to be pleased about, including a sweep of the City of London Series at The Raceway at Western Fair District in May. Now, Sonic Breeze will head into the final of the Grey Huron Stakes as the 1-2 morning-line favourite.
Sonic Breeze boasts a 1:55.3 lifetime mark, which she set in the final of the City of London Series, where she flashed a come-from-behind win. With the Hanover Raceway track record for aged mares set at 1:55 flat, it’s not out of the question that Sonic Breeze could make local history at Hanover Saturday night.
The most important thing for Sonic Breeze will be to notch her sixth lifetime victory, and Kirkpatrick has said that he is “quite confident" and that the mare "came out of last week good, despite losing a shoe somewhere in her last start.”
Noting her solid form, Kirkpatrick said that his pupil “seems at the top of her game.”
Hanover Raceway will get its Saturday night live card underway with a 7:15 p.m. first-race post time. The fillies & mares trotting final in the Grey Huron Stakes will be contested as the fifth race, while Sonic Breeze and her rivals compete in the pacing final in the night’s ninth contest. It’s all part of Molson Men’s Night in celebration of Father’s Day weekend.
To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at Hanover, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Hanover Raceway.
(With files from Hanover Raceway)