INNISFIL, Ont., Aug. 11, 2024 – The Ontario Sires Stakes 50th Anniversary celebration tour made its way to Georgian Downs Sunday, with a trio of $20,000 Grassroots Series races and two $8,000 Prospect Series races on Earl Rowe Memorial Trot night.
All three Grassroots events were for three-year-old trotting fillies with Love Those Legs (Kadabra), Rhythm of Life (Muscle Mass) and Mass Money (Muscle Mass) emerging victorious.
The Prospect Series races were for sophomore trotting males and saw Wheelzablazin (Wheeling N Dealin) and Mass Action (Muscle Mass) score victories.
The $100,000 Earl Rowe Memorial Trot was won by six-year-old gelding Logan Park (Archangel) for driver Doug McNair and trainer Robert Fellows. Logan Park is owned by Outofthepark Stable (Rockwood, Ont.), Reg Higgs (Ilderton, Ont.) and Arpad Szabo (Bradford, Ont.) and was bred by Reg Higgs and Donna Higgs (Denfield, Ont.).
Of the three Grassroots races held Sunday, Race 4 had the closest finish, with Mass Money beating West River Ivory by a head in a time of 1:59.1.
Trained by Mark Etsell, Sunday’s win was Mass Money’s sixth victory of the year and first OSS Grassroots Series score of her career.
“Mass Money is very good gaited. She can get around pretty much anything, so I wasn’t really worried,” said driver Travis Henry of the trip.
With Henry in the sulky over her last four trips, Mass Money has now put together three second-place finishes and Sunday’s win.
“She was a little lazier than I’d want her to be [at first],” said Henry. “But now she can see more and she’ll step around them a little more. Before it seemed like she would just get right up to them and then just race beside them, where now where she can see more she’ll keep on going.”
Mass Money was bred by Julia Pogue (Cavan, Ont.), and is owned by Etsell (Rockwood, Ont.), Robert Newton (Walkerton, Ont.), Peter Porter (Port Dover, Ont.) and Lindsey Turner (Georgetown, Ont.).
Sunday’s 11-race card opened with OSS Grassroots action, as Love Those Legs won in 1:59.2 with driver Louis-Philippe Roy driving for trainer Luc Blais.
“She did it very easily,” said Roy of Love Those Legs, who won by more than three lengths. “She’s a nice filly when she stays trotting. It was very windy tonight in the backside, so I was happy to have her sitting in the two-hole.”
Love Those Legs was bred by Windsong Stable (York, Penn.) and is owned by Determination (Montreal, Que.).
Rhythm of Life, who was driven by Bob McClure, trained by Shawn Steacy, bred by Glengate Farms (Erin, Ont.), and owned by Landmark 16 Racing Stable (Lansdowne, Ont.), Glengate Farms, Carmen Chrysdale (Mississauga, Ont.) and Guy Haskell (Guelph, Ont.), won her Race 3 in 1:58.1.
Wheelzablazin took his Race 2 in 1:58.4 for driver Jason Ryan and trainer Paul Cameron. Arnolds Horse Shack (Mississauga, Ont.) owns Wheelzablazin and Tom Gallant (Caledon East, Ont.) bred him.
Race 6 saw Mass Action find the winner’s circle in 2:00.3. Jean Bernard Renaud drove the bay gelding for trainer Julie Walker and owner and breeder Wade Peconi (Stanchel, P.E.I.).
In addition to the action on the track, Georgian Downs fans were also treated to OSS 50th Anniversary celebrations that included hat giveaways, historical displays, kids’ activity books and more.
The Ontario Sires Stakes 50th Anniversary tour next makes a stop at Hanover Raceway on Aug. 24.
Complete results from Sunday’s program are available here and replays can be viewed on the Georgian Downs website.
FEATURED PHOTO: Mass Money winning an OSS Grassroots Series race for three-year-old trotting fillies at Georgian Downs on Aug. 11, 2024 (Todd Gimblett/Racehorsephoto)
IN-LINE PHOTO: Logan Park winning the 2024 Earl Rowe Memorial Trot at Georgian Downs on Aug. 11, 2024 (Todd Gimblett/Racehorsephoto)
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