First career win for Austin in Grassroots

Paige Austin celebrated her first training win on Tuesday (Jul. 19) at Woodbine Mohawk Park as her Hasty Bid (My Mvp) broke his maiden – and hers – in the Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots second leg for freshman trotting males.

The gelding swung out of the four-hole on the backstretch for James MacDonald, charged forward heading for the far turn, and sprinted past Lookslikeadream (Lookslikeachpndale, Colin Kelly) for the third-division victory in 1:58.2. Fox Valley Ontario (Muscle Mass, Mike Saftic) finished second. Lookslikeadream tired but held third.

HASTY BID / PAIGE AUSTIN REPLAY

Austin co-owns Hasty Bid with an Ontario numbered company. The gelding was a $35,000 Harrisburg purchase for the partnership. He is out of Garland Lobell mare Sunshinenlollipops, who won the Casual Breeze in her first of four career starts. The gelding finished third in his Jul. 3 debut and is one-for-two lifetime.

Resolve To Win (Resolve) kicked off a double for MacDonald and trainer John Bax in the first division. The colt, a 10-1 upsetter, rolled out of second in the stretch and cleared a breaking foe en route to a three-length win in 1:57.4. His pylon conduct caused the judges to light the inquiry sign, but they allowed him to keep the top spot despite going inside two pylons as he was not lapped on. Floyd The Freak (Archangel, Ed Hensley) inherited the place cheque from the off-stride rival. Mr Experience (Muscle Mass, Jody Jamieson) was third.

RESOLVE TO WIN REPLAY

It was Resolve To Win’s first victory after a third-place effort on debut in leg one on Jul. 3. Bax Stable of Campbellville, Brad Grant of Milton, Gaelic Stable of Sharon, and Don Allensen of Wyoming (Ont.) combined to buy the colt from the Lexington Select Sale for $53,000. Sensual Hall, a Garland Lobell mare, foaled the colt.

Bax And MacDonald then clicked again in the second split with Darbyshire (Muscle Mass), who gained the lead three times in the mile and ensured he was ahead while crossing the line in 1:58.1. Lava Field (Muscle Mass, Eddie Green) rallied for place. Take On Me (Muscle Mass, Louis-Philippe Roy) was comfortably third.

DARBYSHIRE REPLAY

Bax Stable also owns a piece of Darbyshire, who is now undefeated in two outings. It shares ownership with the colt’s breeder, Glengate Farms of Erin, along with Goin To The Show Stable of Peterborough and Happy Trails Stables of London. He is out of Majestic Son mare Danish Derby.

MacDonald was still unbeaten in the evening’s Grassroots action through four after he and Nothingbutadreamer (Muscle Mass) swooped to the front on the far turn and sailed to a four-and-three-quarter-length score in 1:58.2. Busting With Pride (Resolve, Trevor Henry) finished second over Like Chaos (Lookslikeachpndale, Bruce Richardson).

NOTHINGBUTADREAMER REPLAY

Nothingbutadreamer races for The Stable’s Nothinbutadremr fractional ownership group. Harry Poulton conditions the colt, who broke his maiden with the win. The son of Chocolatier dam Myimpossibledream finished fifth in his first of three starts on Jun. 20 and broke stride in a Jul. 4 OSS Gold. He went for $21,000 at the London Selected sale.

Tuscan Prince (Kadabra) and Bob McClure stopped MacDonald short of Grassroots perfection with a four-length victory in the final division. Sitting third, Tuscan Prince followed the pocket-sitter out on the final turn and blew by both in front of him in mid-stretch. He won in 1:58.2 over New Rules (Lookslikeachpndale, Austin Sorre), who finished second and two lengths clear of Dark Hammock Road (McNair).

TUSCAN PRINCE REPLAY

The Determination team campaigns Tuscan Prince, a son of Muscle Mass mare Tosca. The gelding broke in his Jun. 24 debut and was second in the Grassroots first leg for his division on Jul. 3. Determination bought the gelding for $45,000 from the Lexington Select sale.

Also on the card, driver Hall-of-Fame driver Randy Waples recorded his first win of the season as he piloted Im On The Edge (Sportswiter) in a conditioned event. Waples executed a brush to the top with the favoured sophomore filly on the backside and got her home in 1:52.3 for the win. The Tony Alagna trainee debuted the week prior and closed from ninth to fifth in a Grassroots race.

Waples has won at least one race in every year since 1984. He was over 1,000 starts every year from 1996 to 2016. He has won 6,644 times in 44,052 career starts. Waples was previously winless in 17 outings this year.

The Ontario Sires Stakes continues with Gold events for three-year-old filly pacers and trotting colts on Jul. 23 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. To view complete Ontario Sires Stakes standings, click here.

The track continues action with the first leg of both the Millard Farms and Pure Ivory trotting series on Thursday, Jul. 21.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink