INNISFIL, ON — A total of 72 three-year-old pacing colts will make their way to Georgian Downs on Tuesday night to compete in the third of six Grassroots events on their 2002 schedule. Among the talented youngsters vying for a total of $120,000 are three from Millar Farms in Newmarket and George Millar is hoping that all three can use the event as springboard to move up the division standings and into contention for one of 16 spots in the Grassroots Semifinal.
Stonebridge Pride is the first of Millar’s colts out of the gate on Tuesday and the Camluck son heads into the second race off a July 27 victory over the Georgian Downs oval. In rein to trainer Roy Jeffries, Stonebridge Pride stopped the teletimer at 1:56 to log his first win of the season.
The winner of $48,165 will make his bid for a second victory from Post 2 and Millar says that as long as Stonebridge Pride keeps his cool things should work out for the rambunctious pacer.
“He’s a little bit of a fractious colt. That’s why my trainer Roy Jeffries has been driving him,” says Millar. “If you get him excited he gets bully. The secret to him is keeping him calm and Roy seems to be able to do that.”
One race later Jeffries will stay in the paddock while Greg Wright, Jr. pilots Blue Nite Life from Post 4. In his first season at the races, Blue Nite Life has scored two wins and six seconds in 17 starts and the Broadway Blue colt will be looking to improve on the second-place finish he recorded in the June 29 Grassroots event.
“He is a real nice horse, very honest,” says Millar. “He looks like the kind that will get better as he goes along.”
Wright will be back in the race bike behind Morroco in the eighth race, sending the Camluck colt after a share of the $15,000 purse from Post 9. In his first two Grassroots starts this season the winner of $54,866 scored a second and third-place finish and he currently sits just below the cut off for the top 16.
“He seems like he will be a nice little Grassroots horse,” says Millar. “He didn’t race well his last start (July 29), but he won the two before that. He’s not a very big colt and I probably made the mistake of racing him too many starts in a row. I think he is the kind of horse you race two or three times and then give him a week off. This will be about his fifth consecutive week and trust me, he’ll be looking for a rest after this.”
Georgian Downs plays the call to the post for the first race at 7:30 pm and the exciting three-year-old pacing colts are featured in Races 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11.