Sixty-five freshman trotting fillies found their way to Mohawk Racetrack for OSS Grassroots action Thursday evening, and Scott McEneny had the magic touch with his youngsters.
Heavily-favoured Its All About Sam was a handy winner in her $18,000 assignment for the duo of driver James MacDonald and trainer Scott McEneny. She was in no hurry in the early going before making a snap move to the lead shortly after the field entered the backstretch. She led the group through sensible fractions of 1:00 and 1:29.2 before turning on the jets late and finishing off her foes with a :28.3 closing quarter. She won in 1:58 over Mariana and Dewdle All Day.
I Want Kandy gave trainer Scott McEneny and owners Brad Grant, Teresa Davidson and Michelle McEneny more OSS Grassroots hardware thanks to her 1:59.3 tally. The connections, which scored earlier with Its All About Sam, watched I Want Kandy march to the lead shortly past the quarter pole before leading through middle splits of 1:00 and 1:30.2 before kicking home in :29.1 to defeat Jangone and Favourite Mission.
Malibu Seelster captured her $18,000 division in 1:59 for driver Trevor Henry, who got away fourth with the youngster before brushing her to the front at the mid-way point of the mile. She cleared without a tussle and took the field to the three-quarter pole in 1:28.3 before using a :30.2 closing panel to seal the deal by a comfortable margin.
Cadillac Sally snuck up the pylons in deep stretch to win the second division in 2:00 for Team McNair. The daughter of Muscle Mass-The Lady Money battled to the quarter pole in :29.4 before finding the front. She was confronted by a parked out Norstar Seelster in the backstretch, and that foe worked her way to the lead and supplied middle panels of :59 and 1:30 before drifting off the rail in the lane. That allowed Cadillac Sally to shoot through and post the narrow win over Norstar Seelster in 2:00. Third prize was earned by Shes All Magic.
Magical Steph was a dominant winner in the third division for the duo of driver Steve Byron and trainer Gary Lance. The daughter of Kadabra-I Like Stephanie got away fourth before rushing to the lead shortly past the mid-way point. She headed past the three-quarter pole in 1:27.1 and then used a :30-second kicker to win by 4-3/4 lengths in 1:57.1. Major Muscle was next best, with third prize going to Liseberg.
GL Racing Inc of Port Perry, ON owns the two-time winner who was a $50,000 Harrisburg Yearling Sale purchase. She’s a full-sister to another Gary Lance trainee, Cold Certified (1:54.1 – $436,478).
Toss It Back was a wire-to-wire winner for the second consecutive start for driver Phil Hudon and trainer Pat Hunt. The filly fired to the front from Post 8 and laid down fractions of :29, :59.2 and 1:29.2 before scooting home in :29.1 for the 1:58.3 decision. Bahama Mama AS was a fast-closing second, with third prize earned by Anneli Hanover.
Jarette AS went to the top and kept on trucking en route to an impressive-looking score in 1:58.2. Billy Davis, Jr. hustled his charge to the top from Post 4 and together they led the way through fractions of :28.4, :59.4 and 1:30.1 before rolling home in :28.1 and posting the easy victory. The Muscle Touch was the runner-up, and rounding out the top three was Shes In Gear.
(Standardbred Canada)