SARNIA, ON — Ontario’s exciting three-year-old pacing colts make the second last stop on their Grassroots tour at Hiawatha Horse Park on Saturday night. The colts will vie for a total of $108,570 in five divisions and the competition is intense as the top 25 colts all have their eye on one of 16 spots in the Oct. 27 Grassroots Semifinal.
Jim Ainsworth trainee Gaelic Force is one of the colts hoping for a solid performance to vault him into the top 16. After four events the Camluck son has one win and one fourth to his credit for a total of 58 points, just four below the current cut off for the top 16, and Sarnia resident Ainsworth hopes that drawing Post 1 in the ninth race means that the gelding’s luck may finally be changing for the better.
“He won the first one and looked real good,” says Ainsworth. “But he’s had some bad luck. He’s been interfered with a couple of times. At Georgian Downs (Aug. 6) he got interfered with twice before the quarter pole by the same horse, the second time it took him out.”
The trainer-driver adds that although sprinting off the gate is not Gaelic Force’s strong suit, having the rail position ensures that he will be close enough to the pace to contend down the stretch.
“He’s better if he can race near the front. If you get him into the race early he’s a lot nicer horse,” says the veteran horseman. “If you get away near the back he loses all interest.
“I’ll score him out a bit before the race to wake him up a bit. Off the rail we’ll start him up a little bit.”
Ainsworth’s father Larry of Petrolia, breeder William Loyens of London and William Boden of Vancouver, BC share ownership on Gaelic Force, who boasts a record of five wins, four seconds and two thirds in 19 starts for earnings of $47,174. In addition to the Grassroots season opener at Elmira Raceway on May 20, the gelding captured The New PL Series Final at Western Fair Raceway on May 31 in a personal best 1:56.2.
Gaelic Force is one of two colts Ainsworth will harness for Grassroots competition at his local oval on Saturday night. He will also send out Solids Or Stripes from Post 4 in the first race.
“Gaelic Force is a little faster than the other horse (Solids Or Stripes), but he’s not always as honest,” says Ainsworth. “Solids Or Stripes is pretty much the same every week, but the odd week he (Gaelic Force) was absolutely horrible for no reason.”
Solids Or Stripes’ consistency is reflected in his Grassroots results, in four starts he has logged a trio of fourth-place finishes for a total of 24 points. While Ainsworth is not expecting the Run The Table youngster to earn enough points to qualify for the Semifinal, he has been showing some steady improvement over Hiawatha Horse Park’ five-eighths mile oval in recent weeks and comes into Saturday’s event off a fifth-place performance in a 1:53 mile on Sept. 26.
“He’s kind of a nice little horse. He should be a 1:54 pacer out here,” says the three-time winner of the Ontario Sires Stakes Johnston Cup as the top trainer. “He should be better this week. We’re going to try a couple of different things with him. He has trouble with his breathing and I think we can help him out a little.
“I think allergies are a lot of his problem so we could use a nice cold snap.”
In spite of the cooler weather and the more aggressive approach to managing the gelding’s breathing problems, Ainsworth does not expect to find himself in the winner’s circle after Race 1.
“He’s in tough. I see Daylon Frontier (Post 6) is in there,” he notes. “This won’t be one we’re trying to win, not when I look down and see Daylon Frontier in there. I’ll just sit and hope to get a good chunk of it.”
Larry Ainsworth and William Boden also own quarter shares of Solids Or Stripes along with Claude Pearson of Tilbury and Stephen Zappia of Pompano Beach, FL. In 18 starts the gelding has tallied four wins, three seconds, two thirds and $22,788 for the trio.
Solids Or Stripes and Daylon Frontier will kick things off at Hiawatha Horse Park on Saturday at 7:10 pm, with the other four Grassroots divisions going postward as Races 2, 8, 9, and 10.