GLOUCESTER, ON — An impressive line-up of three-year-old pacing colts will kick off the Victoria Day weekend in Ottawa on Friday, competing at Rideau Carleton Raceway in the first Gold event of their 2002 season.

Hoping to make an early return to the form he displayed in 2001 is Camystic, who will start from Post 7 in the eighth race on Rideau Carleton’s 6:30 pm program.

Camystic earned $306,576 in Ontario Sires Stakes competition as a two-year-old, scoring two Gold Final wins and a lucrative victory in the season ending Super Final. Gregg McNair trains the Camluck colt for Millar Farms of Newmarket and the Guelph resident is hoping his protege is ready for the first OSS test.

“He trained down good and he looks like a lot bigger horse to me. He filled out good and got a little bigger too,” says McNair. “I like to get faster qualifying miles into them, but we hit two bad days. There was high wind both days.”

Camystic qualified at Mohawk Racetrack on May 3 and May 10, and on both days the presiding officials rated the racing conditions as two seconds slower than normal. On May 3 the qualifier was clocked in 1:58.2 and on May 10 the colts hit the wire in a snappy 1:56.4 in spite of the wind.

After the May 3 qualifier McNair opted to make an equipment change on Camystic that he hopes will make life a bit easier driver Sylvain Filion during the long sophomore campaign.

“He was aggressive the first day we qualified him so we put an open bridle on him for the first time and when he qualified Friday (May 10) he acted good with it,” explains McNair. “He won’t be as handy with it, but it may be easier sitting in a hole with it on.”

McNair will also start a horse in the second Gold Elimination Friday night. Judge Cam will tackle a field that includes last season’s number two ranked horse from Post 4 and McNair is hoping the Camluck son can forge a niche among the top level competitors.

“Our plan all winter was to race him in the Grassroots,” says McNair, who trains Judge Cam for breeder Charles Lawrence of Blenheim. “But I thought he trained down too good for that, so we’ll try him in the Gold for his first start.”

Judge Cam spent most of his two-year-old season competing in the Grassroots program and was bested by just half a length in the season ending Championship. His consistent effort earned him $52,751 in OSS purse money and a spot among the top 10 freshman pacing colts.

“He was stronger at the end last year than he was at the beginning,” notes McNair. “And that’s a good sign when they finish off strong like that. We let his hopples out a little bit this year, but that’s all we’ve changed with him.”

Judge Cam will face stiff competition from Pacific Titan in Race 10. Pacific Titan finished in second spot in the division standings last season after capturing the last two Gold Finals. The Camluck son has qualified three times this season, winning his last outing by a 26 length margin in 1:55.1. Jeffrey Boyd trains the colt for John Grant of Hornby.

The top four finishers, plus one fifth-place finisher, will return to Rideau Carleton Raceway on Friday, May 24 for their $130,000 Gold Final. The top five finishers in each Elimination will also begin accumulating points toward a berth in the rich Super Final, worth $300,000 this season.

Rideau Carleton Raceway sends its first race behind the starting gate at 6:30 pm on Friday. The three-year-old pacing colts will raise the trackside temperature in Races 8 and 10.