Three-year-old trotting males complete Grassroots prelims

Goober Smack (Flanagan Memory) and Jack N Abs (Muscle Mass) took the final Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots preliminary round harness racing divisions for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings in leg five at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Thursday (Sep. 12).

Goober Smack wired the field from post eight in the first split and posted a new lifetime best. In his first drive on the colt, James MacDonald pushed him forward from post eight to take command, and the sophomore kicked clear coming off the final turn to win by three lengths in 1:54.2. Saturday (Brett MacDonald), perhaps racing two days early, was second. R No Mercy (Doug McNair) closed for third.

GOOBER SMACK REPLAY

Susanne Kerwood trains Goober Smack, who is now seven-for-16 lifetime with $84,829 in earnings. Thursday’s win was his first start in the Grassroots after three attempts at the Gold level. S&R Racing Stable of Acton owns the colt.

Jack N Abs (McNair) found himself locked in fifth coming around the final turn but got room in the stretch and motored to get up by a neck in 1:55.2. He nabbed Elegant Resolve (MacDonald) at the line. Royal Duharas (Louis-Philippe Roy) was third.

JACK N ABS REPLAY

Jack N Abs has hit the board in six straight starts, two of which are Grassroots wins. The colt, a Gold winner at two, has now tallied five career victories and $154,497 in earnings from 22 outings. Gregg McNair co-owns him with Brady Doyle of Stratford and Shady Hill Racing Stable of Durham.

The Grassroots finals are set for Sep. 28 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Jack N Abs topped the preliminary round standings with 142 points.

MacDonald drove four of the night’s 10 winners.

Racing continues at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Friday, Sep. 13 at 7:10 p.m. EDT. The card will feature three divisions of the Champlain Stakes for two-year-old trotters — one open and two for fillies.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink