REXDALE, ON — After a three and a half month absence from the Ontario Sires Stakes circuit, two-year-old trotting colt Mr Ontario will return to action in the second of two $50,683 Gold Eliminations at Woodbine Racetrack on Friday.
Mr Ontario stormed onto the freshman trotting scene back in July when he captured his elimination and the season opening Gold Final at Georgian Downs. He finished third in an elimination at Grand River Raceway on July 22, but was scratched out of the Final due to sickness and was not heard from again until an Oct. 11 qualifier at Mohawk Racetrack where he finished second to three-year-old trotting filly Maleficent in 1:58.3.
“He had a problem with a muscle in his neck that was causing him to go off here and there,” explains Todd Gimblett, who shares ownership of the gelding with his father John Gimblett of Whitby, trainer David Menary of Caledon and Larry Menary of Caledon. “He lost his top gear, he just couldn’t go.”
Trainer Menary uncovered the problem when results from a hair analysis, initiated before the first kinks in the trotter’s armour started to show, came back indicating a problem in the muscles of the neck. Subsequent visits from an American acupuncturist and chiropractor seemed to get Mr Ontario back on track and the addition of a pair of trotting hopples completed the gelding’s rehabilitation.
“He’s really turned around. He qualified in 1:58 and a bit real easy,” says Gimblett. “Hopefully he’ll be ready to go Friday.”
Gimblett admits the experience was frustrating for the partners, who acquired the son of Mr Lavec and Tomato Aspic at last fall’s Canadian Classic Yearling Sale for a mere $5,500.
“It has been frustrating. We would take him to the vet and they would say, �There is nothing wrong with him,'” recalls the Whitby resident. “And we’d say, �Then how come he won’t stay trotting?’
“Training down the colt never made breaks. When we baby raced him he finished second to Glidemaster and then went straight into the Gold.”
While he would not want to experience the last three and a half months again, Gimblett adds that Mr Ontario may benefit from the time off in the long run.
“He’s doing really well. He’s really grown up, in height and weight,” notes the owner. “So the time off probably didn’t hurt him. Some growing pains might have caught up to him.”
No matter what happens Friday, Mr Ontario’s early season efforts have already secured him a berth in the season ending Super Final and the gelding will head into the $300,000 contest with the freshest legs in the field. While he has only three starts on his resume, his peers average eight with Friday’s elimination and the Nov. 4 Gold Final left in the regular season.
Among the colts Mr Ontario is expected to see on Friday and again in the Nov. 12 Super Final are former Gold Final winner Dr Robert Johns from Post 3 and Valley Victory runner-up and division leader Majestic Son from Post 5.
Woodbine Racetrack’s Friday evening program begins at 7:40 pm, with the two-year-old trotting colts set to battle for a top five finish in Races 4 and 6. The top five finishers from each elimination will return to the Rexdale oval on Friday, Nov. 4 for their last shot of the season at a Gold Final trophy.
For a complete list of entries please go to:
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/ewdbsfr.html