The Loop hosted a seven-race harness card on Saturday, August 3, featuring two eliminations for the Manitoba Futurity, each with a purse of $9,431.
In the first elimination, Grit N Grace (Im The Pied Piper) quickly seized the lead and set the pace throughout. Lookinlikeamillion (Richard Remillad) took the pocket spot, with Cartoon Kid (Marc Fillion) in third. Grit N Grace maintained a comfortable lead, clocking fractions of 30.3, 1:00.4, and 1:32.0. She powered home with a final quarter of 30.4 to win in 2:02.4. Lookinlikeamillion finished second, Cartoon Kid held third, and Whos Your Daddy (Glen Le Drew) secured fourth.
Grit N Grace is now on a two-race winning streak, following a 1:58.4 victory in the Lady Crocus Stakes. In her three career starts, she has yet to finish worse than second. Lorraine Rey, who trains Grit N Grace, also bred her. Dean Rey drove her to victory, adding to his earlier win with Two Shoes (Whatayasay) in 2:02.2.
In the second elimination, Choozetocruise (Lambretta) also led wire-to-wire despite starting from post-five. Chasin Rainbows (Dean Rey) settled in second, with Tough Crowd (Marc Fillion) in third. Choozetocruise set fractions of 29.2, 1:01.1, and 1:32.4, and won by five lengths with a final quarter of 30.1, finishing in 2:03.0. Tough Crowd finished second, Chasin Rainbows was third, and Trust Me Alot (Tyler Grundy) took fourth.
Choozetocruise remains unbeaten this year after a winless two-year-old season, including a 1:58.4 victory in the Lady Crocus division. Owned and trained by Trevor Williams, she was bred by Betty Manning of Belmont, Manitoba. Gleen Le Drew recorded his only driving win of the day with Choozetocruise.
Donald Howlett also had a strong performance, recording two wins on the card. He drove Voodoo Blue Chip to a wire-to-wire victory in 2:05.3, achieving a new lifetime mark for the three-year-old colt. Howlett’s second win came with Singing Ramona (Sportswriter), who led throughout to win in 2:02.3. This marked her fifth win of the year and 14th career victory. Both Voodoo Blue Chip and Singing Ramona are trained by Mathew Howlett, Donald’s son.
The top four finishers from each elimination will advance to the finals on September 7 at The Loop.