July 18, 2024
By Ontario Sires Stakes Communications
FRASERVILLE, Ont., July 18, 2024 – The Ontario Sires Stakes 50th Anniversary celebration will make a stop at Kawartha Downs Friday as part of an exciting event that will feature four Grassroots and three Prospect Series races.
All seven OSS races Friday will be for two-year-old pacing fillies, with the Grassroots races awarding $20,000 and the Prospect Series races $8,000.
The Grassroots action kicks off Friday’s 11-race card with some local flavour in Forrest Leah (Bettors Delight), who is trained and driven by John Thomson of nearby Peterborough, Ont.
Thomson is also a co-owner of Forrest Leah, along with Larry Todd of Oakwood, Ont.
Forrest Leah has begun her young career a perfect 2-for-2, including a Grassroots Series score at Woodbine Mohawk Park last week.
She was bred by M And L Of Delaware LLC (Wilmington, De.) and Century Spring Farms (Gorrie, Ont.).
The win Forrest Leah scored at Mohawk placed her into a tie with three other horses for tops in the Grassroots leaderboard for two-year-old filly pacers. Two more of the leaders will be featured in Grassroots races Friday with Tricky Wicky (Mcwicked) and Saddlebags (Control The Moment) competing in Races 3 and 5, respectively.
Both are among the favourites according to the morning odds coming into their respective divisions.
Tricky Wicky will be driven by Nicholas Boyd, is trained by Dione Rene, and is owned and was bred by David and John Prushnok (Indiana, Pa.).
Saddlebags is a Dave Menary-trained filly and will have Samuel Fillion in the sulky behind her. She was bred by Princeton Farms Inc. (Princeton, Ont.), and is owned by Menary Racing Inc. (Rockton, Ont.), Larry Menary (Branchton, Ont.), Ryan Morefield (Howell, Mich.) and Denise Guerriero (Brampton, Ont.).
Race 7 will conclude the quartet of Grassroots Series divisions.
The three Prospect Series events go in Races 2, 6 and 8, with Race 8 of particular interest because of morning-odds favourite April Shadows (Shadow Play) and her Lindsay, Ont.-based driver Reg Gassien.
Gassien doesn’t know too much about Shadow Play and will be driving her for the first time Friday, but will connect with trainer Jeffrey Taylor about her beforehand.
The unfamiliarity with April Shadows shouldn’t much of an issue with Gassien, however, because with the race at Kawartha Downs, he’s within very familiar confines.
“I was there when [Kawartha Downs] started,” Gassien said. “It’s been a big part of my racing career. Once the slots came out in 2000 I just concentrated down there two days a week and just never bothered going anywhere else.”
The home-field advantage that Gassien enjoys at Kawartha has been to the benefit of many young pacers and trotters and April Shadows figures to be no different.
She’s owned by Taylor (Gloucester, Ont.) and Rosetown Stable (Stratford, P.E.I.), and was bred by Winbak Farm (Chesapeake City, Md.).
As part of the 50th Anniversary celebration, fans coming down to enjoy the races will also be able to win prizes via giveaways, there will be activity books for the young ones and all ages can take in a timeline illustrating the 50-year history of the OSS.
“I’ve had lots of luck [competing in the OSS],” Gassien said. “I used to drive a lot for Jim Ainsworth, who raced a lot in the OSS, and I’ve [driven OSS races] at Kawartha Downs. When you’re there all the time you sometimes pick up some drives in them. I picked up two that I won Golds with.”
In advance of Friday’s celebration, noted Canadian harness racing writer and historian Robert Smith wrote a brief history of Kawartha Downs that you can read here.
Post time for Friday at Kawartha goes at 7:00 p.m. Click here to get a copy of the program with information on entries and wagering advice. If you’re unable to attend in person, please visit the Kawartha Downs Youtube channel for streaming information. You will be able to make a wager via HPIBet.
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