Grand River: Adare Castle rewrites record book in OSS Gold Series victory

Adare Castle earned her second Gold Series win with a track, Ontario Sires Stakes, and Canadian record effort at Grand River Raceway on Wednesday, July 28.

Starting from post four, Adare Castle settled third through the early going, content to watch Lilys Lass lead the field to a 28 1/5 quarter and a 58 1/5 half. Heading for the 1:28 2/5 three-quarters, driver Bob McClure sent Adare Castle to the front, and the favorite accelerated away from her peers to a 6 3/4 length victory in a record-setting 1:57 1/5. Clockwork Orange finished second and Needa Little Magic was third.

The mile peeled two-fifths of a second off the 1:57 3/5 Grand River Raceway, Ontario Sires Stakes, and Canadian record set by Imextraspecial last August in a Gold Series event.

"Her win at Mohawk was so well in-hand, I knew there was a lot left," said McClure. "When Pat Hunt's filly (Lilys Lass) got down to the half a little faster than I think they would have liked, I knew it set her up for a big mile, but I wasn't chasing her for any records."

Mark Etsell trains Adare Castle and shares ownership of the Muscle Mass filly with Robert Newton, Graham Hopkins, and Peter Porter. The trainer piloted Adare Castle in a June 11 qualifier and then turned the lines over to McClure, who clocked a 2:00 3/5 win with the filly in her June 24 qualifier and a 1:57 4/5 victory in the July 6 Gold Series season opener, all at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

"When he (Etsell) qualified her the first time, the filly I had I really liked and he went right along with me, so pulling up I said, 'That's a nice filly,' and he said, 'Yeah, she is,'" said McClure. "Then the next week obviously he let me drive her, and she was just as impressive, but when she really took a big step up was her first race. She improved from the baby race to the first race and then tonight.

"Mark's great at gaiting trotters, so you know going to these tracks you have an advantage because you can really lean on them on the half-mile," McClure added.

To reassure himself that Adare Castle would handle Grand River Raceway's half-mile surface without any difficulty, Etsell schooled her over the oval on June 21.

"She's not a huge filly, she trains on a half, and she's very handy, but you know, it's always a concern," said the trainer. "You always have that knot in your stomach."

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Joining Adare Castle and her stablemate Allisonann Hanover in that schooling session were Rob Fellows trainees Resolving and Rose Run Xcentric. The outing proved to be invaluable as Resolving used her experience, and a new pair of trotting hopples, to turn in a flawless 1:58 4/5 effort to capture the second C$101,400 Gold division.

In an error-prone race that was initially delayed by a starter's recall, Resolving was the model of professionalism. Starting from post eight, driver Trevor Henry dropped her down to the rail in fourth, avoiding all the early breakers, and then pointed her at the lead heading for the 1:00 half. Resolving took command before the 1:29 3/5 three-quarters and left her misbehaving peers in her wake with an 11 1/4 length victory. Say Something finished second, and Pencils Down was promoted to third when Angelonia was placed from third to eighth for an extended break. Race favorite Grace finished sixth.

"It was quite eventful," said trainer Rob Fellows. "She's pretty level-headed, so the recall I don't think shook her up too much, where some trotting fillies that would have really made them scatter-brained, and then she landed in and just stayed trotting. Trevor just moved her out and let her trot good in the straightaways, and she was good. It's nice when the plan works."

Fellows trains Resolving for his wife Yolanda Fellows, Blair Corbeil, and Ted Wilson, who bred the filly's sire Resolve in partnership with Michael Pozefsky. Resolving was also a winner in a June 24 qualifier, but made a late break in the July 6 Gold Series season opener and finished eighth.

"She's tall, good-looking, and doesn't carry a lot of extra weight, which will kind of lean me toward not racing her too much in the heat of the summer, but she's very well-mannered," said Fellows. "She actually did nothing wrong all winter. She wasn't really flashy, like you didn't get off the track and go, 'Wow,' but you said, 'Oh, she was good.'"

Resolving and Adare Castle will have their third opportunity to collect a Gold Series blanket on Aug. 20 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

--press release (Ontario Sires Stakes)--