DUNDAS, ON — When Carl Jamieson saw the post position draw for this Sunday’s program at Flamboro Downs he was disappointed to find Village Blitz’s name beside Post 8 in the second of two Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Eliminations. Village Blitz heads into Sunday’s contest off a pair of impressive half-mile victories and before the draw Jamieson was confident the colt could extend his streak at the Dundas oval.
“I think the smaller horses find it easier to get around the turns so a small track is an advantage to us,” says Jamieson. “But he’s drawn in with the toughest bunch, I think, and the eight-hole won’t help. We’ll just hope we can finish in the top four and draw better in the Final.”
Village Blitz heads into Sunday’s event off two impressive victories at Elmira Raceway in the Battle of Waterloo Elimination and Final. In his July 26 Elimination the Village Jiffy son overcame the outside Post 7 and interference at the halfway marker to score a five length 1:57.3 win. Ten days later he and driver Jody Jamieson used a wire-to-wire strategy to score the win in the $200,000 Final, stopping the clock in identical time.
In Ontario Sires Stakes action the duo finished a close second in the season opening elimination and Final at Windsor Raceway and then logged third and fourth-place finishes in the elimination and Final at Woodbine Racetrack on July 11 and 18.
Jamieson shares ownership on the colt with his partners in the Village Blitz Stables, including Ted Smith of Mississauga who pointed the colt out to the trainer at last fall’s Canadian Classic Yearling Sale.
“Ted Smith picked him out. He liked his breeding, he’s out of a good mare,” recalls Jamieson. “I looked at him in the ring and fell in love with him. He wasn’t a big colt, just average size, but he was put together right.”
The group of six acquired the son of $254,456 winner Village Blues for $35,000 and Village Blitz has returned their investment more than four times over in just six starts.
Village Blitz will attempt to add to his $169,152 earnings in Race 9 on Flamboro Downs’ 6:20 pm program Sunday where he will face two-time Gold Final winner Sir Luck from Post 3.
Sir Luck also competed in the Battle of Waterloo, winning his elimination and finishing third in the Final after recovering from a break at the start of the race. Bill Budd of Carlisle trains the Camluck colt for C and I Siegel Racing Stable Ltd. of Brooklyn, NY and Mike Saftic will handle driving duties. Budd and Siegel also earned the runner-up share of the $200,000 Battle of Waterloo purse with Boulder Creek and Saftic will send that Pacific Rocket son after a top four finish from Post 6 in the fourth race.
Only the top four finishers from each elimination, plus one fifth-place finisher drawn by lot, will return to Flamboro Downs for the $130,000 Gold Final on Aug. 18.
Sunday evening racing gets under way at 6:20 pm at Flamboro Downs and the talented two-year-old pacing colts will battle for one of the nine qualifying spots in Races 4 and 9.