Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots action for rookie pacing colts and geldings kicked off Thursday night (July 7) at Woodbine Mohawk Park, and first-crop sire All Bets Off earned his second OSS winner with Tignanello in the fourth of five divisions.
Sent the favourite, Sylvain Filion moved the Benoit Baillargeon trainee to the front from post six and led gate to wire in a time of 1:54.1.
“When Sylvain is the favourite, he puts them in play pretty good,” said Baillargeon. “Coming in I didn’t think a mile in 1:54 was out of reach for that colt tonight. He’s very good gaited and covers the ground easily.”
Tignanello set an identical closing panel of :27.3 in his qualifier victory on June 25.
“Hes out of a Somebeachsomewhere mare that won in 1:51, so there is speed in his family for sure,” said Baillargeon. “He trained down good all winter. It was not a problem to bring him to the races, and he was very willing to do his work.”
All Bets Off's first OSS winner was filly Big Big Plans in a gold division on Canada Day at the Campbellville oval.
Paul Reid trainee Teen Tattler was second in the penultimate Grassroots division with Scott Young in the race bike. The Canam Crew (Port Perry, Ont.) owns the Sportswriter colt. Watch My Chips finished third for Puslinch, Ont., trainer Scott Mceneny and his ownership partners Bradley Grant (Milton, Ont.) and Martwest Racing Stable (Mississauga, Ont.).
The Grassroots action commenced earlier in the evening in Race 2, where Slick N Quick won win his pari-mutuel debut with Filion driving.
Troubles A Brewin was sent to the front early by James MacDonald, and held the lead until the three-quarter pole after fending off a first up move from Morning Watch.
The field condensed as they turned for home, and Filion moved Slick N Quick up from seventh behind cover from Speak Of War and Better Option. The Julie Walker trainee moved six wide and sprinted down the lane to win by a neck with a final panel of :27.2.
“He seems very versatile,” said Walker. “He qualified off the front end, but that was just the circumstances of the fractions, and the speed we wanted to go that day, but he looked good tonight.”
Owner Joe Miskokomon (Muncey, Ont.) recently purchased the Sportswriter gelding from Carl Jamieson.
“Carl does a really good job getting them ready and educating them,” said Walker. “When we got him, it seems like he could have done anything already.”
Doug McNair got a pocket trip with Gandolf The Black and the Dominic Gladu trainee finished second for his TheStable.ca owners. Delightful Leader was third with Phillippe Hudon driving. Melissa Lamoreux trains for 8113564 Canada Ltd.
The second Grassroots division in Race 4 featured another off the pace win from Santana Hanover. Leaving from post five, James MacDonald sat the Big Jim colt off fractions of :28.1, :58.1, and 1:27.2. He tipped out from third as the field entered the stretch and drove home to win by a length.
It was the pari-mutuel debut for the Paul Davies trainee, who set a mark of 1:55.3 with a final panel of :28. Davies owns the colt with his wife Nicole.
Sharky, a 43-1 shot, finished a game runner-up after Doug McNair made a second up move that vaulted him to the lead entering the stretch. Cannington, Ont., resident David Browns trains, owns, and bred the Hes Watching colt. The Bettors Delight colt All Attitude, who led at the half, finished third. Trevor Henry drove the Robert MacIntosh (Windsor, Ont.), Dave Boyle (Bowmanville, Ont.), and Mardon Stables (Loretto, Ont.) homebred.
In Race 5, the third Grassroots division, Gregg McNair trainee The Moment Arose sat fifth after the quarter mile marker before charging to the lead down the backstretch, holding off Best Shadow around the turn and winning by two lengths.
“He trained good all winter and seemed to have lots of go tonight,” said McNair. “He always trained in the front end a little bit, even at 2:30, 2:35. He always seemed better in front than following. Lots of horses are the other way around. It’s hard to cut every mile that you’re in but he was good tonight.”
Doug McNair drove the Control The Moment colt to his 1:55 mile for Bolton Ont., owners John Stamatis, Joseph Orofiamma, and James Georgakopoulos (North York, Ont.).
Red Coin was a late charging second driven by Jody Jamieson. Jeffrey Gillis (Fergus, Ont.) trains and co-owns the Bettors Delight colt with Mac Nichol (Burlington, Ont.), and Ellen Ott (Buffalo, N.Y.). Rounding out the podium in race three was Shadow Play colt Parsons. Louis-Philippe Roy drove the Tess Waxman (Ridgeville, Ont.) homebred for trainer Eric Nadeau.
Doug McNair closed a driving triple in the final Grassroots division in Race 10 with Wall Street Bell.
Leaving from post four, the Shadow Play colt settled off the first quarter of :28.3 and McNair moved him along the backstretch into a lead he did not relinquish, pacing a mile in 1:55.1 for his first win from three starts.
Blake MacIntosh trains for owners Hutt Racing Stable (Malvern, Pa.), Ozzie Mackay (Moncton, N.B.), Veikko Pajune (Vancouver, B.C.) and Penny Of Hope Stables (St George, Ont.).
Jody Jamieson piloted another Shadow Play colt, The Golden Jet to a second-place finish for trainer Meg Crone. It was the pari-mutuel debut for the Claude Gendreau Stb Inc. (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) homebred. Thong Control was third for trainer Jean Tournigy with Sylvain Filion driving. Tournigy co-owns the Control The Moment colt with Steve Garceau, and Roland Trudel (Becancour, Que.).
To view Thursday's harness racing results, click the following link: Thursday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Ontario Sires Stakes)