R No Mercy breaks maiden in Grassroots

R No Mercy (Alarm Detector) got off the schneid in his sixth career harness racing start as he won the second Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots division on Friday (Sep. 1) at Grand River Raceway.

Doug McNair took him to the front early, and the colt trotted early fractions of :29.3 and 1:00.1. Alexander (Matt Bax) popped the pocket and pressured him first-over as they came down the backstretch.

Alexander eclipsed the leader at three-quarters in 1:29.2, but R No Mercy refired and brushed him off rounding the last turn. Eiffel Power (Travis Henry) picked up the torch with a late rush, but R No Mercy held off the colt by three-quarters-of-a-length in 2:01.1.

Eiffel Power was second. Brutalizer (Colin Kelly) finished well off a second-over trip and took third.

R NO MERCY REPLAY

R No Mercy finished second in two previous Grassroots legs and has earned $29,631 in his freshman year. Gregg McNair trains the homebred colt for Thomas Rankin and Elizabeth Rankin of St. Catherines.

Northernchancellor (Muscle Mass, Auston Sorrie) powered through a first-up trip to take the first division in 2:00.4. He pushed by pacesetter Charmbo Titan in mid-stretch and won by a length-and-a-half. Lockdown Romeo (Bax) was third.

NORTHERNCHANCELLOR REPLAY

Northernchancellor now has two career wins, both of which came in the Grassroots. The gelding, trained by Bruce Macdonald, is now two-for-seven at two and has earned $32,170. Mardon Stables of Loretto owns the two-year-old.

The fifth and final preliminary Prospect Series leg for freshman pacing males will go forward at Flamboro Downs on Sep. 12.

Grand River Raceway will host more Prospect Series action – seven total divisions of leg 5A – on Wednesday, Sep. 6. Four of the contests are for two-year-old pacing fillies, and three are for their male counterparts.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink