SARNIA, ON — Ontario Sires Stakes excitement returns to Hiawatha Horse Park on Thursday with seven Grassroots divisions for the three-year-old trotting colts.
The colts opened their sophomore season on May 19 at Elmira Raceway and are eager to collect the second set of points that could carry them into the Grassroots post season. Among the colts hoping to add to their point total is Petrolia resident David Clark’s Beamer Rimz who finished third in the season opener and will start from Post 2 in the seventh race on Thursday.
“He certainly had a pretty good start to the season,” says Clark, who owns, trains and drives the New Victory colt. “And the two-hole should suit his racing style. He likes to be up in the thick of things early.”
After his third-place finish in the Grassroots event at Elmira, Clark returned to the half-mile oval for an overnight event on June 2 and Beamer Rimz looked ready to breeze home to his second win of the season when he suddenly came up short in the stretch. Tests after the race proved the colt had caught a bug and he was sidelined for almost four weeks.
In preparation for Thursday night’s battle Clark entered the young trotter in a non-winners of $20,000 contest at Hiawatha Horse Park last Saturday (June 28), but the plan went slightly awry when Beamer Rimz made a break turning for home.
“Saturday was supposed to be a little bit of a tightener, but he did a bit of a skip at the top of the stretch,” explains Clark. “As a two-year-old he had a little trouble making gate breaks, so I had to be pretty careful with him his first few starts, but the other night was the first time he’s ever done anything late in the mile.”
Clark does not expect a repeat of Saturday’s performance, noting that the Hiawatha racetrack crew had hardened the racing surface up in anticipation of the forecasted rain and that another horse made a break beside Beamer Rimz as they were turning for home.
“I don’t know if it was one of those monkey see, monkey do kind of breaks or what,” he says. “But we should be fine for Thursday. The draw will certainly help the cause and the forecast is calling for nice weather.”
After making a start just five days before the Grassroots event, Beamer Rimz will be on a lighter work schedule this week, doing more of his peculiar style of jogging than he will training.
“At the farm he doesn’t steer all that great. He’s the kind of horse that probably should wear two head poles to jog, but I don’t do that,” says Clark. “John Wellington, who helps me out, likes to jog him. He gets to jog him most days, and they wander around to and from the inside and outside of the track.”
Among the colts Beamer Rimz will face on Saturday is Brisk Success from Post 5, one of seven horses trotting specialist Ross Henry will send to the post. The three-time Johnston Cup winner as the top trainer in the Ontario Sires Stakes program will also harness Tara Ballyduff and Rueben Syn in the second race, Hidden Profits in the fifth, Odee Tantie in Race 6, Earl Vic Dol in the eighth and Grand Turk in Race 9.
Hiawatha Horse Park sends the first division of three-year-old trotting colts into Grassroots battle at 7:10 pm with the others following in Races 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.