FRASERVILLE, ON — Ontario Sires Stakes action returns to Kawartha Downs on Thursday evening with four Grassroots divisions for the two-year-old trotting colts.

A pair of colts making their racing debut hail from local trotting specialist John Bax’s stable, Rob Ray, who will start from Post 3 in the third race and Kingma Kosmos, who gets the advantageous Post 1 in Race 6.

The less seasoned colt of the two, Rob Ray heads into the $24,482 Grassroots contest off a July 3 qualifier at over the Kawartha Downs oval that left Bax somewhat in the dark about the colt’s real talent.

“He only qualified in 2:09, but he was all by himself so it was hard to get a good read on him,” says the Peterborough resident. “But I think he’ll be all right.”

Bax shares ownership on the Balanced Image son with Robert Heather of Peterborough and Karen Debnam of Little Britain, and jokes that the $30,000 yearling has been a pleasant surprise as far as attitude goes.

“For a Balanced Image he’s almost too quiet,” says Bax, who has trained such Balanced Image standouts as $2.2 million winner Goodtimes and $925,921 winner Duke Of York. “But I expect that will change at some point.”

While Rob Ray has been the epitome of relaxation, Kingma Kosmos has been a slightly different story. Bax attempted to qualify the Mr Lavec son twice at Mohawk, both with less than expected results.

“I tried him a couple of times at Mohawk and both times when he pulled out he made a break. I had a Kant See Back bridle on him and he just seemed to lose focus. I think he was seeing too much and just couldn’t handle it,” explains Bax. “So I put a closed bridle on him and qualified him at Peterborough and he was good.”

The chestnut colt’s June 28 qualifier saw him circle Kawartha’s five-eighths mile oval in a smart 2:04.1, confirming Bax’s initial assessment of Kingma Kosmos’ abilities.

“I think he’s Gold material. I’m pretty high on him actually,” says Bax. “He’s a good gaited horse and he’s always been smart and easy to handle. He’s done whatever we’ve asked of him. With a horse like that you never know where the end is, and it’s always a good feeling when they give you a little more.”

Bax and partners Harry Locke of Oshawa and Jeffrey Langfelder of Atlanta, GA acquired Kingma Kosmos at last fall’s Tattersalls Yearling Sale for $15,000 US and will be hoping Thursday’s performance is another step toward the Ontario Sires Stakes’ upper echelons.

Racing gets under way at 7:20 pm at Kawartha Downs this Thursday and the two-year-old trotting colts will try their hand at Grassroots competition in Races 2, 3, 5, and 6.