May 17, 2024
By Ontario Sires Stakes Communications
MILTON, May 17, 2024 - The Ontario Sires Stakes 50th Anniversary Celebration kicks off Sunday at Flamboro Downs with three $20,000 Grassroots Series divisions for the three-year-old trotting colts featured on the undercard of the Charles Juravinski Memorial Cup program.
The Grassroots divisions are slated as Races 2, 4, and 8, with the $50,000 Margaret Juravinski Memorial Invitational going postward as Race 7 and the Charles Juravinski Memorial Cup Final featured in Race 10.
Race 8 is a race to look for as it sees the return of Northfields Farm-bred Northernchancellor, the Grassroots Series point leader in the two-year-old colt trot division last season.
“He’s always been a good size,” said owner Marvin Chantler of Mardon Stables. “But he certainly did grow and filled out [over the winter] and he’s a good size trotter.”
The Bruce MacDonald trained now-three-year-old will be driven by 2020 Lampman Cup champion Bob McClure, making his first appearance in the Muscle Mass gelding’s race bike.
“I think Bob can expect that if he wants to lead with the colt, I think the colt can lead pretty well, and, obviously, if you’re on top, you can kind of set your own fractions,” Chantler said. “The colt’s very handy. If somebody wants to lead from the outside, he’d be happy to sit in the two or three hole.”
As part of the 50th Anniversary celebration, fans coming down to enjoy the races will also be able to view photos and memorabilia from seasons past along with giveaways, activity books for the young ones and a timeline illustrating the 50-year history of the OSS.
“I’m excited to see Sires Stakes racing back because I was around racing in the Sires Stakes when it first started, because I have been racing for 58 years,” Chantler added.
In advance of Sunday’s Anniversary celebration, noted Canadian harness racing writer and historian Robert Smith penned a brief history of Flamboro Downs that you can read
here.
Post time for the first race of the evening Sunday at Flamboro Downs goes at 6:55 p.m. Click
here to get a copy of the program with information on entries and wagering advice. If you are unable to attend in person, please visit the
Flamboro Downs website for streaming information. You will be able to make a wager via
HPIBet.
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