Page 46 - Canada Spring 2022

C l i v e C o h e n P h o t o g r a p h y
JULY 7, 2021
Ajax Downs • $24,564 300 yards • :15.302 • si 98
Mr Jess Perry
Miss O Toole Holland Ease
Easily A Doll
Mr Jess Tex
FIRING RED JESS, ‘15-g. Easily Holland
Picov Maturity
FIRING RED JESS
by Tracy Gantz
Firing Red Jess had to defeat a two-time Champion to capture the $24,564 Picov Maturity at Ajax
Downs on July 7. In against Had To Be Ivory, the Canadian Champion in 2019 and 2020 and winner of
this race in 2019 and 2020, Firing Red Jess accomplished the feat as the longest shot on the board.
Sent away at 21-1 with jockey Josh Scott in the irons, Firing Red Jess broke third while Had To Be Ivory
got away on top. At first it looked like the Champion would win again, but Firing Red Jess wouldn’t be denied. He pushed his head in front at the wire to win the 300-yard maturity in :15.302, while posting a 98 speed index.
Scott Reid trains Firing Red Jess for owner George Coleman. A 6-year-old gelding, Firing Red Jess had previously done his best racing in allowance events.
Guylaine Paquin bred Firing
Red Jess in Ontario, Canada, out of Easily Holland. The mare has pro- duced eight winners in nine starters, including Eazy Street, winner of the 2019 Alex Picov Memorial Futurity and Ontario Bred Futurity, and stakes-placed Hickerson.
Had To Be Ivory (Ivory James- Had To Be Fandango), bred
and owned by Carol and Jaime Robertson, ran second under jockey Cory Spataro for trainer
Bryn Robertson, who is Carol’s husband and Jaime’s father-in-law. Had To Be Ivory’s 13 victories include seven stakes.
Cassandra Jeschke piloted Countrys Comin Bac (Country Chicks Man-Bac To Center) to third for owner Ralph Pearson and trainer Don Reid. Countrys Comin Bac won the 2020 Ontario Bred Maturity.
Carneros (Prospect To The Top-Cakebread And Thou), Fiesty Icon (Sugarman Perry-Fiesty Spirit), Maryland Magic (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Purley Un Social), and
Shes Sizzling (Sizzlin Cartel- Shenandoah Special) completed the order of finish.
44 SPEEDHORSE CANADA Spring 2022