GLOUCESTER, ON — Rideau Carleton Raceway wraps up its 2003 Ontario Sires Stakes season on Thursday with what promises to be an outstanding showdown between the top three-year-old trotting colts in the province.
Reigning Gold Final champ Armbro Approach starts from Post 4 in the $130,000 Gold Final, division leader JM Vangogh gets Post 6 and Hambletonian winner Amigo Hall will start from Post 7. Bob Burgess shares ownership on Amigo Hall with daughter-in-law Karin Olsson Burgess of Milton and breeders Walnut Hall Limited of Lexington, KY and the Campbellville resident is hoping the colt will be sharp enough to overcome the outside post position and capture his first Gold Final.
“Obviously we’re hoping to win two in a row, but it’s a very tough draw on a five-eighths mile track,” he notes. “On a mile track it would not be a factor, but it’s a factor here. Ottawa is a front end speed track.”
Burgess’s son Blair trains the Balanced Image colt and piloted him to an impressive 1:57.2 victory in the elimination round last Thursday. The elimination was Amigo Hall’s first start since the two-heat Kentucky Futurity on Sept. 27 and Burgess notes that the winner of $738,705 should be sharper heading into Thursday’s Gold Final.
“Blair raced him in Ottawa and he was short, but still good enough to win,” says the long-time owner. “I didn’t see it, but he was very good apparently. He won pretty easily in spite of being short.
“He’s a big strong horse. I’m sure he’s the biggest horse in the race.”
Mike Lachance, who has been Amigo Hall’s regular pilot since his Aug. 2 Hambletonian win, will make the trip to Ottawa to drive the colt on Thursday, while Blair Burgess returns to the race bike behind the family’s second stringer Hawaiian Clipper.
Another son of Balanced Image, Hawaiian Clipper will benefit from Post 1 in Thursday’s eighth race and Burgess says the colt will need all the breaks he can get in the tough field.
“He needs all the help he can get,” says Burgess, who co-owns Hawaiian Clipper with Olsson Burgess and Marsha Cohen of Asbury, NJ. “He has not been as good as he was last year, but Blair thought he was better last week, so we’ll go and take our best shot.”
Hawaiian Clipper finished fifth behind JM Vangogh in last week’s elimination round and landed the ninth spot in the Final by being selected in the random draw between both fifth-place finishers.
Rideau Carleton Raceway’s first race parades onto the track at 6:30 on Thursday evening and the clash of the three-year-old trotting colt titans takes place in Race 8.
In addition to the on-track excitement offered up by the three-year-old trotting colts, Rideau Carleton is celebrating the Ontario Sires Stakes program’s 30th anniversary with a 30th Birthday Balloon Bash. All fans celebrating their 30th birthday are invited to pop a balloon to win terrific prizes.