DUNDAS, ON — Heading into Saturday’s $100,000 three-year-old pacing colt Grassroots Championship, Tony Macri and Anne Della Maestra are feeling confident in Banana Joes Bar, but they are also painfully aware that anything can happen in a horse race.

Last fall the Waterdown residents sent Banana Joes Bar off to Georgian Downs for the freshman pacing colt Final with an undefeated record in two regular season starts and the Grassroots Semifinal, and the colt delivered a lacklustre performance and came up sick following the race. So for the last five days they have been reassured by reports from trainer John Ciarpelli that the Northern Luck son is bouncing around in his paddock, the picture of health.

“John is pretty happy with him. The colt is running around the paddock with his tail up, he’s eager and playing,” says Macri. “He’s not giving us any indication that there is anything wrong with him.”

Banana Joes Bar will try and make up for last year’s disappointment from Post 5 in the seventh race on Saturday and Macri does not expect the pacer and driver Brad Forward to have any problems with the mid-pack draw.

“I think that’s a pretty good post over there,” he speculates. “The talk in the backstretch is that they are going to get him this week, and there is always somebody who can take the sting out of you, but we’ll probably still roll him like we always do.

“We’ll try and get him to the front because once he gets there, if he gets there, he’s always been a tough individual on the front.”

After last week’s Semifinal win the couple hosted an impromptu celebration and Macri says they will probably do the same this week, no matter what the outcome of the race.

“We had a nice barbecue last week after the race. We put on some steaks, had a few people over and partied it up,” says Macri. “We’ll probably do the same again this week. Win or lose, he doesn’t owe us anything.

“We’d still like to have it (Final win), but we won’t be too disappointed if something goes wrong.”

While Banana Joes Bar heads into the three-year-old pacing colt Final as the favourite, trainer Bob Young expects Windsun Ben to be largely overlooked by fans in the two-year-old pacing colt battle after the youngster drew the seventh outside post in his eight race career.

“He’s had too much practice from the outside,” laments Young. “Last week was the first time he’d drawn inside the six since Canamerica, Hyatt and Stephen Scarff bought him.”

Purchased in July by Canamerica Capital Corp., who also own Little Brown Jug winner Mr Feelgood, and Hyatt Holding Inc. of Milton and Stephen Scarff of Halifax, NS, Windsun Ben took full advantage of the Post 3 he drew in the Semifinal and finished second by a nose to Wantasmile in 1:57.1. His :28.4 last quarter was the second fastest of the two freshman pacing colt divisions and is representative of the racing style he had to learn this summer.

“We’ve never really had a chance to leave with him,” explains Young. “But he knows how to pick the pieces up at the end.”

Regular reinsman Phil Hudon will steer Windsun Ben from Post 7 in the third race on Saturday.

Young will also harness three-year-old trotting filly Highnmighty on Saturday’s Grassroots Championship program and the Guelph resident says the Striking Sahbra daughter could have used a better post than the six-hole she drew for the fifth race.

“In against that group she’s not the best, but if they get racing up front, she’ll be strong at the end,” says Young, who trains Highnmighty for James Howie of Etobicoke, Stephen Malach of North York and Michael Henry of Toronto. “She actually raced well last week. She trotted her last quarter in :30, and I think that was the fastest last quarter of both divisions.”

Regular reinsman David Boughton will return to the race bike behind Highnmighty on Saturday.

Post time for Flamboro Downs outstanding afternoon of racing is 4 pm, with the eight $100,000 Grassroots Finals slated for Races 1 through 8.

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