Longshot pops for Moore in $75,000 Grassroots Final

MILTON, September 30, 2023 – Longshot Kinnder Thinktwice (Wheeling N Dealin-Majestic Joy) and Sylvain Filion, sent off at odds of 25-1, tracked down favourite New Rules late in the lane to spring the harness racing upset in Saturday’s (Sep. 30) $75,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots final for sophomore trotting colts.

Trained by Tyler Moore, the colt tripped the timer in 1:53.3, a new lifetime mark, and returned $52.40 to his backers.

“It’s very great. It’s been a while since I’ve really trained anything, so it’s very exciting,” the conditioner said of his first training win at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

The victory capped off a whirlwind few weeks for Moore, who received the colt earlier this month. With 11 starts to his credit, Kinnder Thinktwice had managed a single victory for owner Michael Hall. Moving to Moore, son of Dr. Ian Moore, the sophomore raced fourth in the semi-final last week with Filion in the bike for the first time.

“The owner Michael [Hall], I think he has a couple here right now with my dad. They’ve had a bit of a relationship over the last couple of years, so he had called my dad and asked for him to take him and he kind of has too many, so he offered him up to me, I guess,” Moore said after the win. “I’ve actually never spoken to Michael, but anyway I’ve only had the horse for barely two weeks I think, but obviously, he’s been great and we really enjoy having him. He’s a pleasure in the barn and he’s obviously a really nice horse. I was really surprised tonight, but he certainly strutted his stuff.”

Kinnder Thinktwice drew post six in the Grassroots final while the heavy favourite, New Rules, was not so fortunate.

Entering the race with back-to-back wins, the Marcel Barrieau trainee drew the outside post for Saturday night’s contest.

When the gate folded, driver Austin Sorrie looked to be forwardly placed, but could not find a spot along the rail and was forced to move to the top through fractions of :26.3 and :56.1, shuffling Deadline Hall to second.

Filion, by comparison, sat along the pylons in sixth until Like Chaos and Trevor Henry moved from fifth, grabbing the live cover.

Racing out of the turn (1:25.3), New Rules maintained the lead. However, after being stung early, he was no match for a hard-charging Kinnder Thinktwice. Flying on the outside, the longshot won by half a length at the wire. The Great Reset trotted third.

It was the second Grassroots win of the night for Filion, who scored earlier on the program with Century Jamila.

His thoughts on the colt after the race?

“Very happy,” Moore said, of Filion’s reaction. “I wasn’t sure what to expect. I really didn’t get time to do much with him [Kinnder Thinktwice] and I had no idea what he was really going to provide us with and when he raced last week, I was very impressed, and I was just hoping for a similar result. He really threw it all out there and he was amazing, and I was really impressed tonight again.”

Bred by Denitza Petrova, Kinnder Thinktwice scored the biggest purse win of his career. He nearly doubled his career earnings with the victory, the fourth in 20 lifetime starts.

For complete race results, click here.

by James Platz, for Ontario Racing