Seven pacers eye to claim historic Manitoba Great Western #77

The newest edition of the most prestigious harness race in Manitoba and one of the oldest in western Canada, the Manitoba Great Western takes place on Saturday (Aug. 31) at The Loop.

A field of seven pacing three-year-olds will line up for a purse of $14,139 And the chance to add their name to the other 76 horses who have won before.

#1 Tough Crowd

Drawing the rail is the Andreoli Hanver sired colt, Tough Crowd. He has made seven starts this year and has two wins at Miami Fair. The fastest winning mile of his is 2:02.1. which came after he also drew the rail. Tough Crowd has finished in the top three in five of his seven appearances this year.

Tough Crowd has been very competitive in stakes races so far this year. He secured a spot in the MSSBA Futurity Final after a second-place performance in the elimination.  In the first leg of the Golden Boy, he was able to rally for third place after being interfered with early in the race. As a two-year-old he only made two starts and the best finish he could produce was a dead-heat for third.

Marc Fillion trains and often handles driving duties for Tough Crowd. The colt is a homegrown product of Fillion. Fillion has made 20 driving starts and has won five so far this year. While as a trainer, Fillion has three wins over 21 starts. However, Fillion has another entry so driving duties will be given to Donald Howlett.  Howlett has nine wins this season which puts him second in driving wins in Manitoba. In 25 total steers, he has finished in the top three 18 times and has a Udrs of 0.533.

Tough Crowd’s sire, Andreoli Hanover has yet to sire a Manitoba Great Western winner, however, he has sired Golden Boy Stakes winner, Ak Up N Attem. He also sired Silk Lace Stakes winner Ak Black Badger.

In Andreoli Hanover’s racing career, he won 53 of his 284 lifetime starts and collected $672,719 in prize money. His fastest winning mile was 1:50.3 which he achieved at the Meadowlands as a four-year-old. He made his racing debut on July 27th, 2004 at Woodbine Racetrack in the first leg of the Dream Maker.

#2 Choozetocruise

Lining up in post position is two is the filly Choozetocruise (Lambretta). She started the year with five straight wins, most of them coming in wire-to-wire fashion. Her lifetime mark of 1:58.4 was achieved in the Lady Crocus Stakes. Choozetocruise also won her elimination of the MSSBA Futurity earning her a spot in the finals. Her latest start was a third in the first leg of the Silk Lace after having a tough two-wide trip early.

Choozetocruise went winless as a two-year-old but still managed four top-three finishes in six starts. She also earned cheques in both MSSBA two-year-old stakes last year. She collected $4,485 in prize money during her rookie campaign and has now earned the other $16,954 of her career total in 2024.

The filly was bred by Betty Manning out of Belmont, Manitoba. Trevor Williams now owns and trains Choozetocruise. Glenn Le Drew will once again team up with her. LE Drew has eight wins this season and a Udrs of 0.415.

Her sire, Lambretta has also yet to sire a Manitoba Great Western winner. However, the fastest pacer he has sired is Myomylookatmefly who has won in 1:53.3 just this year. During his time racing, Lambretta made 261 starts and ended his career with 39 wins. He would spend most of his racing career in southern Ontario and the eastern U.S. Lambretta would amass $513,726 in prize money and have a lifetime mark of 1:52.1.

#3 Cartoon Kid

The other of Marc Fillion’s entries is Cartoon Kid (Cartoon Daddy). The colt is starting to find his form as he has finished in the top three in his last five starts and is coming off a career-best 2:03.1 victory mile. Just a week before his latest win, Cartoon Kid finished second place in the MSSBA Golden Boy just beating his stablemate, Tough Crowd. Cartoon Kid also clinched a spot in the MSSBA Futurity Final with a third-place finish in the elimination.

In four starts during his rookie year, Carton Kid won once in 2:05.4. In his only two-year-old stake race attempt, he finished sixth. However, he still earned $2,775 during his first year of racing and now has earned an additional $7,433 so far this year.

Marc Fillion bred, owns, trains and handles driving duties for Cartoon Kid. Fillion will team up with Cartoon Kid over his other entry, Tough Crowd on Saturday.

Cartoon Kid’s sire, Cartoon Daddy finished his racing career with over $500,000 in earnings and 30 wins. He spent six years racing and made 118 starts. His personal best winning mile was paced in 1:50.1. which was achieved during his rookie season.

Cartoon Daddy has only produced three foals in total and two of them have competed in a race. Whos Your Daddy is the other Cartoon Daddy’s that has made a start. Whos Your Daddy has made 11 career starts but only has one win.

#4 Grit N Grace

One of the top three-year-old fillies this year in Manitoba is Grit N Grace (Im The Pied Piper). In six starts this year, she has yet to finish outside the top three and she has earned $17,271 in prize money.  She would win four races in a row after finishing second in her 2024 debut.  The fastest of the bunch was the 1:58.4 in the Lady Crocus Stakes. Grit N Grace would also win the MSSBA Futurity elimination in 2:02.4 and the first leg of the Silk Lace in 1:59.4.

Grit N Grace did not race as a two-year-old but that hasn’t hindered her at all.

Grit N Grace is one of two from Lorraine Rey’s stable. Rey has five wins as a trainer so far this year and a Utrs of 0.529. She has also won over $28,000 in prize money this summer. Dean Rey will once again team up with Grit N Grace. He has six wins in the bike and has earned $33,808 in winnings.

Grit N Grace is the product of Im The Pied Piper. During his racing career, he won 33 times over 196 starts. He also hit a lifetime mark of 1:49.4 and earned over $390,000.

Only two of Im The Pied Piper’s foals have ever raced. Grit N Grace and Just A Cool Dude both made their racing debuts in 2024. Just A Cool Dude has yet to record a win but Grit N Grace continues to be one of the top fillies in Manitoba this year.

#5 Trust Me Alot

The 2023 MSSBA Two-year-old Filly of the Year, Trust Me Alot (Trust The Artist) is coming into the event with back-to-back fourth-place finishes. However, just before that she had won back-to-back races and achieved a new lifetime mark of 2:02.1. She earned herself a spot in the MSSBA Futurity Final with a fourth-place finish in the eliminations. She also finished fourth in the first leg of the MSSBA Silk Lace. Trust Me Alot has earned $18,289 over 13 career starts

During her rookie year, Trust Me Alot won twice in five starts and she also only finished outside the top three once. One of her wins was in the MSSBA Juvenile Stakes and she was runner-up in the MSSBA Kindergarten Stakes.

Jacqueline Grundy will be looking for her third training win of the summer. As well, Tyler Grundy will be eyeing his third driving win when he jumps into the bike on Saturday.

Trust Me Alot’s sire, Trust The Artist made 169 career starts during his time racing. He also won the Western Canadian Pacing Derby in 1:52.4 and amassed over $587,000 in earnings. All 17 starters Trust The Artist sired have earned a victory and 12 of them have best times under 1:57. The fastest of his foals is Pipewrench Charlie who has a lifetime mark of 1:49.4.

#6 Lookinlikeamillion

The 2023 MSSBA 2023 Two-year-old Colt & Gelding of the Year, Lookinlikeamillion (Armbro Baylor) has been a top competitor as of late. He has two second-place finishes and a win in his last three starts. The latest win was the fourth of their career and in the first leg of the MSSBA Golden Boy.  He also finished second in the MSSBA Futurity eliminations clinching him a spot in the finals.

As a two-year-old, Lookinlikeamillion never finished outside the top three in four starts and visited the winner’s circle on two occasions. He won the MSSBA Kindergarten Stakes and was runner-up behind Trust Me Alot in the MSSBA Juvenile. The success in the stakes has helped him earn over $19,000 in prize money.

Lookinlikeamillion is trained by Tara Isman. Isman has a Utrs of 0.486 and earned over $25,000. Her horses have finished in the top three 18 times in 21 attempts. Reinsman Richard Remillard will be in the sulky as he looks to get his sixth driving win of 2024.

Lookinlikeamillion is a product of Armbro Baylor. Armbro Baylor earned over $300,000 in prize money over 74 starts. He also produced a lifetime mark of 1:49.1. Armbro Baylor has also produced past Manitoba Great Western winners such as Millies Million, Baylor Out and Dirt Road Anthem.

#7 Chasin Rainbows

The second Lorraine Rey entry, Chasin Rainbows (Spinfiniti) draws the outside. The filly has performed well so far this year. In six starts, she has a win and four top-three finishes. Her lone win was paced in 2:02.3 at The Loop. She has also performed well in her stake attempts so far this year. She finished second place in the Lady Crocus and the first leg of the MSSBA Silk Lace. She also finished third in the MSSBA Futurity elimination.

Chasin Rainbows did not race as a two-year-old but fit in well to the three-year-old scene in Manitoba.

Blake Piwniuk will team up with Chasin Rainbow. Piwniuk has six wins and over $62,000 in earnings this year. He spent time in Alberta driving before the meet in Manitoba started.

Chasin Rainbows’ sire, Spinfiniti made 89 starts and won 16 of them. He also earned over $239,000 in prize money. Just like Chasin Rainbows, he did not make a start as a two-year-old but would go on to have a decent racing career. Spinfiniti has sired three starts and all three have earned a win. Yet to sire a Manitoba Great Western winner, but he did get close with This Girl Rules who was runner-up in 2022 behind Emmetts Buddy.

The first race kicks off at 1:00 p.m. CST.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink