GLOUCESTER, OCT. 15, 2001 – Rideau Carleton Raceway wraps up its 2001 Ontario Sires Stakes season on Thursday with four Grass Roots divisions for the two-year-old pacing colts.
The last of six regular season events on the colts’ schedule, Thursday’s contest will determine the starters in the Oct. 27 Grass Roots Semifinal. Competition for one of 16 berths in the Semifinal is fierce, with a dozen colts in a position to make the leap into the Top 16 with a solid performance at Rideau Carleton.
Among the colts hoping to maintain a spot in the post season is Mr Teddy Bear, owned by a numbered company administered by Gloucester’s Bill MacQuarrie. The Pacific Rocket colt sits 13th in the standings with 12 points accumulated through one win, one second and one third in three Grass Roots starts.
James Stewart trains Mr Teddy Bear for MacQuarrie’s 1187422 Ontario Inc. and is hoping the youngster can add to his point total from Post 5 in the fourth race.
“I was kind of hoping he’d draw the four or five-hole,” says Stewart, who will hand the lines to regular driver Jody Jamieson. “When you ask him to he can leave pretty good, and usually he can leave better from a middle post position.”
Stewart’s only concern heading into Thursday’s event is the effect the trip from his Guelph barn to the Gloucester oval will have on the colt.
“He’s a horse that should be outside all the time; he stall walks,” says the trainer. “He gets a little hot and takes too much out of himself. He’d be a much better horse if he could learn to relax.”
The 38-year-old horseman feels the colt’s best performance this season came in a Sept. 7 qualifier at Mohawk Racetrack where he paced to a 1:55.2 victory, giving a second glimpse of the raw talent displayed in his June debut.
“When we first qualified him at Mohawk in the June baby races he went the best mile of them all,” recalls Stewart. “He won in 2:00 and (driver) Jim McClure said, “He could pace in 1:55 right now.” We thought he was going to be really good.”
In 10 starts Mr Teddy Bear has delivered three wins, one second and one third and earned $20,927, repaying the $20,000 MacQuarrie handed over to breeders Prince Lee Acres at last fall’s yearling sale, but failing to raise the “Wow!” factor his connections expected.
The colt will have an opportunity to prove his mettle Thursday when he faces two of the top colts in the Grass Roots Series. Firstline Luck, who has posted two wins and one second in Grass Roots action, and Judge Cam, who boasts two wins and two seconds, will start from Posts 2 and 4.
“Firstline Luck is unbeatable, he was really good in Clinton (Sept. 30),” says Stewart. “There are some good ones in there.”
In addition to the top ranked colts Mr Teddy Bear will face, division leader Spencers Victory will attempt to pad his lead from Post 3 in Race 2. The Make A Deal colt has scored three wins, one second and one fifth-place finish in five starts for a total of 20 points, two ahead of Judge Cam and his stablemate from the Gregg McNair barn Sunset Bay.
Rideau Carleton Raceway sends its first race to the post at 7:28 pm on Thursday and salutes the two-year-old pacing colts in Races 2, 4, 6, and 8.