INNISFIL, ON — This Saturday Georgian Downs kicks off an exciting run of Ontario Sires Stakes events that culminates with the three-year-old Grassroots Championships on Oct. 30. Opening the six week run of exceptional racing are the two-year-old trotting colts, competing for a total of $93,875 in five Grassroots divisions.
Keith Jones will harness a pair of novice trotters in Saturday’s event and the Midhurst resident is hoping the hometrack advantage will benefit both President’s Choice and B Cor Brett. Balanced Image son Presidents Choice will make his third start in the Grassroots program from Post 5 in the first race and will be looking to improve on the fifth and eighth-place results he delivered in August.
“He was good all winter. He was one of the better ones training down,” says Jones. “But he developed a few problems early and hasn’t been as good as we expected.”
A $32,000 acquisition at last fall’s Canadian Classic Yearling Sale, Presidents Choice made his racing debut in the Aug. 11 Grassroots event at Hanover Raceway, but breaks in stride at the start and the three-quarter marker forced the youngster to settle for fifth spot. Another early break knocked the colt out of contention in his Aug. 26 Grassroots division at Hiawatha Horse Park and he trailed home well behind the leaders in eighth.
To prepare for Saturday’s contest Jones qualified Presidents Choice at Georgian Downs on Sept. 11 and the colt delivered a flawless performance to earn a third stab at the provincial series.
“He’s usually pretty good, he’s just had a little bad luck along the way,” says Jones, who owns, trains and drives the colt. “If he doesn’t pan out this year, hopefully he’ll work out next year.”
While Presidents Choice has been something of a disappointment at this stage in the season, stablemate B Cor Brett has been a pleasant surprise for Jones and owner George Charlton of Utopia. A $17,000 yearling, the Berndt Hanover son boasts a record of one second, two fourths and one sixth in four Grassroots outings and currently sits just below the cut off for a berth in the lucrative post season.
“He’s been a bit of a surprise. He was one of the weaker ones training down, but he’s grown stronger and developed as the year goes on,” says Jones. “He’s starting to do okay. I think he’s sitting 17th in points for the Grassroots standings.”
B Cor Brett will attempt to pad his point total from Post 6 in the second race on Saturday, but Jones thinks it may be an uphill battle. Among the colts B Cor Brett will face are former Gold Elimination winner Zorgwijk Fortunate from Post 4 and third ranked Grassroots competitor Meadowcroft Man from Post 1.
“I think that’s one of the tougher divisions,” says the horseman, “But if he behaves and minds his manners anything can happen in those two-year-old trotting races.”
Jones will also steer Windsongbraveheart for his cousin Dustin Jones from Post 2 in the fourth race. The Mr Lavec son heads into Saturday’s event off a fifth-place finish in a $107,243 division of the Champlain Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack on Sept. 6. A half-brother to former Ontario Sires Stakes standout Infinites Uprising, a winner of $174,679, Windsongbraveheart is owned by breeder William Loyens of London and the Dustin Jones Stables Inc. of Melbourne, QC.
Georgian Downs raises the curtain on its Saturday evening performances at 7:30 pm, with the two-year-old trotting colts slated to take centre stage in Races 1, 2, 4, 6, and 9.
Over the coming weeks Georgian Downs fans will be treated to Gold Series drama by the three-year-old trotting colts and Grassroots action by the three-year-old pacing colts and three-year-old trotting fillies, before all of the three-year-old Grassroots divisions converge on the five-eighths mile oval for their Semifinals and Finals Oct. 23 and 30.