FRASERVILLE, ON — After watching many of the province’s top two-year-old pacing colts debut in Gold Series action earlier in the summer, Kawartha Downs fans will have another opportunity to see the talented youngsters in action when they wrap up their Grassroots regular season at the Fraserville oval Saturday night.
A total of 48 colts will compete for just over $160,000, but for a handful of colts sitting near the cut off for the lucrative post season, points are more important than purse money on Saturday.
“It’s kind of a nail biter, a crap shoot,” says trainer-driver Mark Etsell, whose King Joe sits in a three-way tie for the last spot in the Top 16. “One thing about it, with lots of divisions, there’s lots of scenarios. I think if he gets some of it, he should be close.”
Bred and owned by David Snowden of Bowmanville, King Joe heads into Saturday’s fifth race off a smart 1:56.4 victory at Georgian Downs in the Sept. 17 Grassroots event. The win was the colt’s second in a rough and tumble season that started in the Gold Series season opener at Kawartha on June 28.
“He’s been a bad luck kind of a fellow. He got interfered with at Sudbury, and in the first turn at Woodstock two horses ran and he was trying to split the middle,” says Etsell. “In his very first start in a qualifier he got pretty well knocked down, it was like �Welcome to the world of racing.'”
In spite of all that the stocky youngster has crafted a resume of two wins — one Grassroots division and an elimination of the Battle of Waterloo — and three thirds in nine starts for earnings of $24,740. In addition, King Joe has evolved into a more confident horse and Etsell hopes his Sept. 17 victory will set the colt up for another solid effort from Post 2 in the third division on Saturday.
“When we started off the year he was a very timid colt. He’s got a lot better,” notes the Hanover resident. “He raced really good in Georgian Downs, so hopefully he is heading into Kawartha on a good note. Hopefully he’ll give a good, honest effort.”
Like King Joe, Winbak Noah is right on the bubble between qualifying for the post season and wrapping things up on Saturday. The Island Fantasy son sits just four points below the current cut off and, in an effort to boost his chances of making the leap into the Top 16, his connections recently moved him into the barn of Kawartha’s leading trainer, Mark Winacott.
“We changed barns with him last week, we gave him to Mark Winacott,” says Tim Gillespie, who shares ownership on Winbak Noah with Charles and Jason Churchill of Colborne and handled training duties on the pacer through his first seven starts. “The horse just wasn’t quite right, so we sent him there to see what Mark can do. He’s the top trainer in Peterborough.”
Winbak Noah will start from Post 6 in Saturday’s fourth race, but Gillespie says the post should not have a significant impact on the gelding.
“He’s not a great leaver, so it doesn’t really matter,” notes the Grafton resident. “He’s seventeenth in points, so we are hoping for a second to make the Semifinals.”
The top 16 point earners will be decided in Races 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 on Saturday evening, with Kawartha Downs’s first race rolling up behind the starting gate at 7:20 pm.
For a complete list of entries please go to:
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/ekdfsa.html