Campbellville, ON --- Last season Gregg McNair clinched his first Johnston Cup title with three Grassroots Championship victories. This year the Guelph resident could watch Saturday’s festivities from the Mohawk Racetrack grandstand and still take home the Ontario Sire Stakes program’s leading trainer award.
After jumping out to an early lead in June McNair has been unstoppable and currently sits 129 points ahead of his nearest rival, Richard Moreau. The horseman has raced 24 different pacers and nine trotters this season, making winner’s circle appearances in every division except the 2-year-old trotting colt.
The trainer will only harness entries in two Grassroots Championships this season, but his starters make up almost one-third of the 2-year-old pacing filly field and are headlined by division point leader Momara.
“She’s had a surprisingly good year,” says McNair of the Lis Mara-Mosaic filly, who will start from post seven. “She always had a lot of potential, but she wasn’t just the greatest gaited thing all winter, so she’s been a nice surprise.”
McNair shares ownership of Momara with Leonard Gamble, Don MacDonald and David Kryway. The partners also bred the winner of $63,078, who has not been bested in Grassroots action since the July 2 season opener at Georgian Downs.
McNair’s son Doug will steer Momara in Saturday’s C$50,000 test, which is slated for race eight.
Momara’s stablemate Can Art finished third in the point standings and will attempt to capture the division title from post four. A daughter of Artistic Fellaand former McNair trainee Canadette, who won $409,140 in her racing career, Can Art has always ranked near the top of the trainer’s freshman pacing filly group, which also includes the American-bred star Precocious Beauty ($359,842).
“She trained down real big last winter,” says the horseman. “She’s a little like her grand dam, Legacy Of Fame ($855,911). You get floating along with her and you really don’t realize how fast you’re going.”
Rob Chapple bred and owns Can Art, who comes into the championship off a 3-1/4 length win in the Sept. 11 Grassroots event at Grand River Raceway.
The final member of McNair’s potent 2-year-old pacing filly trio is Regally Ready, who also reeled off a win in the last regular season event, posting a 1:56.4 personal best over the Grand River oval.
The Royal Mattjesty-Jodi St Laurent daughter, owned by Hutt Racing Stable, finished sixth in the point standings and will start from post two on Saturday.
“She’s got a lot better that mare. She’s stronger now than she was at the start of the year,” says McNair. “She’s got gate speed and she’ll race from out of it too.”
The trainer’s fourth starter is 3-year-old pacing colt Southwind Amazon, who gets post four in the tenth race. The Camluck colt found the winner’s circle for the first time this season in the Sept. 8 Grassroots event at Clinton Raceway where he stopped the teletimer at 1:56.4.
“I don’t think he got beat in the Grassroots as a 2-year-old,” notes McNair. “But we tried to switch him over to the Gold at the end of last year and it ended up he had a cracked P1 bone or something. He had to have surgery on it.
“He’s come back, but he’s not as dominant as he was,” the trainer continued. “The rest caught up to him I guess.”
After going four-for-four in the Grassroots last season Southwind Amazon posted one win, two seconds and three thirds in six regular season starts this year, putting him fourth in the sophomore pacing colt point standings. Jarold Hawks owns the winner of $93,322 and Doug McNair will be in the race bike for Saturday’s test.
Mohawk Racetrack raises the curtain on its Saturday (Sept. 21) program at 7:25 p.m., and turns the spotlight on the province’s best Grassroots competitors in races two through six and eight through 10. Race seven features the C$284,000 Milton final for older pacing mares, highlighted by former Ontario Sire Stakes stars Monkey On My Wheel and Voelz Hanover.