Woodbine Mohawk Park: Middleton goes for Gold in Ontario Sire Stakes

They say good things come in threes. Trainer Ken Middleton is hoping that rings true on July 1 at Woodbine Mohawk Park when Grammys Girl leaves from post four in one of two Ontario Sires Stakes Gold divisions for 2-year-old pacing fillies.

The daughter of Big Jim is the third foal bred by Middleton out of the mare Lady Marina to reach the racetrack.

"She's really come on strong here in the last couple of months as we've been getting her to the races," said Middleton. "She's got some speed and ability inside of her, just like her siblings do."

Her half-brother Bob Loblaw (Sunshine Beach) won the OSS Super Final in 2021, in a 2-year-old campaign where he earned $233,657. Her half-sister Shes A Sassy Beach (Sunshine Beach) is a 4-year-old mare with a record of 7-3-6 from 47 starts and over $114,000 in career earnings.

"Structurally, they're all kind of different," said Middleton. "The first filly was very tall, and she was very slender. Very athletic. She had speed but she was a different build than Bob Loblaw, who grew up to be a tall horse as a 3-year-old. But he's a big bodied horse. He's very robust."

The third member of the trio falls in between, according to Middleton. She's not quite as tall as her half-brother but is still very big bodied and robust. While the three siblings may look different, they share one important characteristic.

"They've all been smart out of this mare, and I if I could pick one attribute for a horse to have it would be smarts," said Middleton. "I like smart horses because they're easy on themselves. They don't waste energy. So that's a similarity they've all had. They're quite intelligent."

Grammys Girl qualified twice at Woodbine Mohawk Park and finished third in her pari-mutuel debut at the Campbellville oval, pacing a mile in 1:57 1/5 on June 23.

Randy Waples gets the drive for Middleton and his ownership partner Dave James Jeff N John X2 Stable.

Big Big Plans (All Bets Off) is the morning line favorite in Grammys Girl's division. Trevor Henry will drive for trainer/owner Robert McIntosh, and McIntosh's partners Mardon Stables and Dave Boyle.

In the second OSS Gold Division, Cheesy Smile (Betterthancheddar) is looking to build off her debut win on June 23, where she paced a mile in 1:56 4/5 on the strength of 26 final quarter. Bob McClure will drive the John Pentland trainee for Pentland and ownership partners Cindy Molyneux, Peter Charlton, and Archie Leach.

-edited release (Ontario Sire Stakes)