WINDSOR, ON — Heading into the third Gold Series event for the three-year-old trotting colts at Windsor Raceway on Sunday night, trainer Doug McIntosh is missing Ryan Hall.

The Wheatley resident will start two colts in Sunday night’s elimination round but Ryan Hall, the winner of the first Gold Final, will not be one of them. After finishing second in his June 3 Gold Elimination at Woodbine Racetrack the Balanced Image son suffered a severe cut on his leg that will see him out of action for the rest of the summer.

“I am missing Ryan Hall badly right now. It would be nice to have three of them in there,” says McIntosh. “But in the best case scenario he won’t be back until some time after Labour Day.”

As a result Semper Fi Hall and first time Gold starter Maddies Mister will carry the McIntosh colours in the Gold Eliminations at their local oval on Sunday and, McIntosh hopes, for the remainder of the season.

Last year’s Grassroots champion and a runner-up in the season opening Gold Final, Semper Fi Hall will make his bid for a berth in the July 7 Final from Post 6 in the fourth race. McIntosh trains Semper Fi Hall for breeders Walnut Hall Limited of Lexington, KY and refers to the Balanced Image son as a Rodney Dangerfield kind of horse.

“Semper Fi Hall is the Rodney Dangerfield of my stable,” he says with a chuckle. “He doesn’t get a lot of respect, but he is always knocking at the door.”

The winner of $190,369 heads into Sunday’s contest off a fourth-place finish in the Colonial Stakes at Woodbine on June 21 and will be looking to redeem himself for a pair of breaks in his last two Ontario Sires Stakes starts.

Stablemate Maddies Mister will make his Gold Series debut from Post 4 in the ninth race and McIntosh admits the Mr Lavec son will have his work cut out for him to advance through the opening round.

“He will have to mind his manners to get a cheque,” says the veteran trainer. “But he is coming along and by the end of the season I think he will mature into a nice horse.

“He’s kind of like trying to park a school bus. He’s big and awkward and those kind take a long time to learn.”

William Loyens of London, Keith Robertson of Oshawa, Seth Langson of Charlotte, NC and Stephen Russell of Granville, OH own Maddies Mister, who has a record of two wins and four thirds in six starts this season, including a third-place finish in the June 8 Grassroots at Kawartha Downs.

Maddies Mister will face off against last year’s Breeders Crown champion Duke Of York in Race 9. After making an uncharacteristic break in the June 10 Gold Final the John Bax trainee captured a division of the Colonial Stake in a solid 1:55.4 and will be looking for a second straight victory from Post 2 on Sunday.

Marvin Katz and Sam Goldband of Toronto and Al Libfeld of Pickering own Duke Of York, who could be heading for the Hambletonian on July 27 if all goes well in Windsor over the next few weeks.

Windsor Raceway’s first race heads in behind the starting gate at 6:30 pm on Sunday evening and the three-year-old trotting colts will put on their speed show in Races 4 and 9.

The top four finishers from each elimination, plus one fifth-place finisher drawn by lot, will advance to the $130,000 Gold Final on July 7.