Grand River Raceway hosted the Grassroots Championships for the first time on Sept. 29 and the stars of the $800,000 show were local horsemen Doug and Gregg McNair.
Trainer Gregg McNair harnessed four starters in three Grassroots Championships and carried home three trophies.
Driver Doug piloted four of his six Grassroots Championship mounts to victory, including his father’s three winners.
“It was great to have a great night like that at this track, it’s one of my favourite tracks and it’s close to home,” said the 22-year-old reinsman.
Rain soaked the Grand River oval in the hours leading up to the start of the championship races, resulting in a sloppy racing surface rated two seconds slower than normal and causing Doug McNair a few moments of worry before he paraded out for the first $100,000 contest aboard two-year-old pacing filly Cams Macharena.
“I had good horses and good post positions, but then it started to rain at the start of the night and that usually mixes things up, it usually goes the wrong way,” said the driver.
McNair crafted the win for trainer Tony O’Sullivan of Cambridge and overjoyed owner-breeders Chris Arold and Michael Drury of Strongsville, Ohio and Kenneth Kohut of Independence, Ohio.
The reinsman’s second victory came in similar fashion with his father’s two-year-old trotting colt Buddy Hally. Gregg McNair shares ownership of Buddy Hally with Howmac Farms Ltd. of North Wiltshire, PEI, breeder Reginald MacPherson of Stratford, PEI and Wayne MacRae of Fall River, Nova Scotia.
Father and son teamed up for one last Grassroots Championship test in the three-year-old pacing colt division. Saddled with Post 7, the younger McNair had Lucky Jet on fire early and with a big finishing kick, propelled him to a half length victory over In Commando and Modern Xhibit.
“I ended up finding a little bit of room in the backside to slide out so it worked out for the best, I guess it was meant to be,” said McNair, who crafted the 1:54.3 win for owners Thomas Harmer of Willowbrook, Illinois, Michelle Crawford of Cazenovia, New York and Edward Kollross of Dubai.
In the other Grassroots Championships, three-year-old trotting filly Dancehall Mistress scored a 1:58.2 victory for trainer Brad Maxwell and owners David Goodrow Stable of Cambridge, Douglas Millard of Woodstock, P G Van Camp Stables of Port Perry and Glenn Tarver of Scarborough. Arthur resident Trevor Henry engineered the filly’s fourth win.
Princess Lilly won the two-year-old trotting filly championship in 2:00. Mario Baillargeon crafted the victory for his brother, trainer Benoit Baillargeon of Rockwood, and owners Les Ecuries Piramidan of Gatineau, Quebec.
Fan favourite Northern Escort got the job done in the three-year-old trotting colt division to record his eighth win for trainer Justin Filion and owner Les Ecuries JYJ Inc. of St-Andre-D’Argenteuil, Qebec. Sylvain Filion piloted the colt to the win.
