CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — Fresh off her second straight victory in the William Wellwood Memorial, a race that honours her late father, trainer Paula Wellwood will return to Mohawk Racetrack on Sunday evening with two of the best two-year-old trotting colts in the Ontario Sires Stakes program.

Wellwood Memorial winner Laddie and former Gold Final winner Charlie Lavec will both start from Post 4 in their respective Gold Eliminations, and the Cambridge based trainer is looking for solid performances from both colts.

“Charlie Lavec was very consistent early, then he ran into a little problem in the last couple of weeks and made a couple of breaks, but I’ve rectified the problem,” says Wellwood. “He qualified very well (Sept. 15) and he trained this morning (Wednesday) and he was very good.”

Wellwood shares ownership on Charlie Lavec with driver Paul MacDonell of Guelph and breeder Carwin Stables of Orono and she admits they were all surprised when the Mr Lavec son captured a July 13 Gold Elimination at Mohawk in his first start and then came back the next week to claim the Gold Final trophy.

“When he started to race as well as he did it was a shock to all of us,” she recalls. “With him, no matter what he does from here on out, it’s a bonus.”

In his second Gold event the gelding finished third from the outside Post 8 in July 31 elimination action at Grand River Raceway, where only the top two finishers advanced to the Final, and then delivered a fifth-place performance in his Aug. 13 elimination at Flamboro Downs. His recent troubles began in an overnight at Mohawk on Aug. 28 where he made a break and finished seventh and continued through the Sept. 3 Champlain Stakes, which saw him make another break and finish well back of the field.

“He’s very tall, he has extremely long legs and he actually is starting to fill out. He has been growing a lot,” explains Wellwood. “But he seems to have everything okay now.”

While Wellwood says Charlie Lavec has always been a handful, she reserves the title of stable terror for Laddie, who makes just his second start in Gold Elimination action on Sunday.

“I call him my ADD child,” she says wryly. “He’s always terrorizing something. When we left the barn today (Wednesday) he was deciding to spill his water bucket and water was going everywhere.

“I was going to give him another day off because he raced Monday and comes back Sunday, but with the way he was acting I said, �I think we better jog you.'”

The son of Angus Hall and Victory Dreamer debuted in Gold Elimination action at Flamboro Downs on Aug. 13, but made a late break that sent him back to the qualifying league. He returned to the Dundas oval for the Flamboro Breeders Stakes on Aug. 26, but another break left him well back of the field.

Things finally fell into place for Laddie in the Sept. 3 Champlain Stakes at Mohawk where he sprinted from seventh to first in the stretch to claim a 1:59.3 victory. Back at Mohawk for the Wellwood Memorial eliminations he and driver Paul MacDonell overcame the outside Post 10 to earn a 1:58.2 score and then delivered a dream mile over a track rated three seconds slower than normal to earn Paula Wellwood her second Wellwood Memorial trophy.

“He’s been a bit of a challenge, but when the light switch clicked on he’s been very good,” she says. “He’s very good gaited and he always showed talent, it was just getting it out.”

Wellwood Stables Inc. of Cambridge own Laddie, who boasts a record of three wins in five starts for earnings of $333,583. The colt will try and improve on his first Gold Series outing from Post 4 in the seventh race on Sunday.

Post time at Mohawk Racetrack on Sunday evening is 7 pm and the Campbellville oval will spotlight the two-year-old trotting colts in Races 2, 5 and 7. The top three finishers from each elimination, plus one fourth-place finisher drawn by lot, will return to Mohawk on Sunday, Oct. 1 for their last $130,000 Gold Final.

For complete entries please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/emohssu.html