Grand River Raceway: Fields set for Battle of Waterloo, Battle of the Belles

Rookie pacers of both sexes battled for spots in the finals of the Battle of Waterloo (colts) and Battle of the Belles (fillies) in several eliminations on Monday night at Grand River Raceway.

In the first C$15,000 Battle of Waterloo elimination, 1-9 favorite Bettors Wish (Paul MacDonell) pulled first-up going to the 57 3/5 half, battled head-and-head with leader Da Delightful (Chris Christoforou) to the 1:25 2/5 three-quarters, and sustained his brush in the final quarter to win by three-parts of a length in 1:54 3/5. Sports Teen (Louis-Philippe Roy) followed the winner's cover and was second, with Da Delightful having to settle for third.

Bettors Wish, a Bettor's Delight colt, has won three of four starts and earned C$72,060. He is trained by Chantal Mitchell for the ownership group of Chris Ryder, Bella Racing Ltd., Fair Island Farm Inc., and Kenneth Solomon. Bettors Wish paid $2.20 to win.

The second Battle of Waterloo went to Better Moonon Over (Christoforou) in 1:55 1/5. He led the way through fractions of 27 4/5, 58 2/5, and 1:26 3/5, and closed in 28 3/5 to win by a pair of lengths over Prestige Seelster (Bob McClure). Twin B Watching (Jody Jamieson) finished third.

Blake McIntosh trains the winner, a gelded son of Betterthancheddar, for owners Kim and Dan Sergeant. Better Moonon Over has won half of his four starts and pushed his earnings to C$18,905. A 7-2 offering, Better Moonon Over returned $9.60 to win.

The final Battle of Waterloo elimination saw heavy favorite Bronx Seelster (Trevor Henry) make front passing the 27 2/5 opening quarter. Once on top, Bronx Seelster got away with a middle-half in just 59 4/5, and that helped him prevail by a length and a quarter in 1:55 1/5. Wager On Me (Jody Jamieson) was second from the pocket, with Fast N First (James MacDonald) up for third.

A Big Jim colt, Bronx Seelster is trained by Wayne McGean for owner Capers 3 Stable. This was Bronx Seelster's third victory from five tries, and he pushed his earnings to C$94,000. Sent off at 1-2, he paid $3.00 to win.

Driver Jody Jamieson and trainer Dave Menary teamed up to win the first two C$10,000 Battle of the Belles elims with Quebec Blue Chip (1:55 4/5) and Ideation Hanover (1:55). Quebec Blue Chip, by Sportswriter, has a pair of wins in four starts and earnings of C$36,968 for owners Menary Racing Inc., Michael Guerriero, Kenneth Ewen, and Bruce Norris, and Ideation Hanover, a daughter of Bettor's Delight, broke her maiden in her third kick at the can and pushed her bankroll to C$12,040 for Menary Racing Inc., Guerriero, and Alan Alber.

Blake MacIntosh picked up another win in the third Battle of the Belles elim when 10-1 shot Clearly Better rallied off cover and down the center of the track in the lane to win in 1:55 4/5 with Jonathan Drury driving. Shesonehotwriter (Sylvain Filion) was second after taking the lead passing the half, and Summer Charm (Christoforou) checked in third.

MacIntosh also co-owns the daughter of Sportswriter, who scored her initial win in her fourth try and now shows C$10,080 earned, with partners Hutt Racing Stable and Stuart McIntosh. She returned $22.30 for the win.

Probably the most impressive winner in any of the eliminations was Powerful Chris (McClure) in the final one for the Battle of the Belles. She got away fourth, pulled first-up off the second turn, and was pushed out three-wide through the stretch the first time. After getting a first-over two-wide position back past the half, she kept grinding away on the outside, and got the measure of pace-setter Kylie Seelster (Doug McNair) in the lane, winning by a neck in 1:55 1/5. Blossom Onthebeach (Jamieson) was third.

Another one by Betterthancheddar, Powerful Chris is three-for-three in the win column for co-owner/trainer John Pentland, co-owner Jack Darling Stables Ltd., and McClure's Syllabus Stable. She has banked C$48,925 and returned $2.80 to win as the 2-5 favorite.