CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — When you ask Dr. Michael Wilson about two-year-old pacing colt Make My Day, the Rockwood resident offers a choice of two tales. There is the sad story of the colt’s mother Matt’ll Be The Day being sold in 2001 or the joyous tale of a reunion between the breeder and the promising young pacer, who makes his second Ontario Sires Stakes start at Mohawk Racetrack on Friday.
“I sold her (Matt’ll Be The Day) for $6,000, which was the cost of the stud fee. A Mennonite gentleman in Ohio bought her,” recalls Wilson. “She foaled a colt, which was Make My Day, and he was sold for $15,000 in Ohio and Peter Heffering bought him.”
Through the winter Heffering kept his friend Wilson informed about the progress of a talented son of Astreos, but it was not until Make My Day arrived in Ontario this spring that Wilson made the connection between the mare he had sold and the colt Heffering had acquired.
“I heard all winter that this good looking horse was training well in Florida, and then he came up here and I realised it was the colt out of the mare I sold,” says the proprietor of Warrawee Farms.
“Peter Heffering bought her back, around March or so; in time for him to breed her back to Astreos. He paid a lot more for her than what I sold her for,” adds Wilson wryly. “I sold her because she hadn’t had spectacular success with me.”
After watching Make My Day capture a pair of qualifiers early this summer Wilson decided it would be prudent to reinvest in the family and purchased a share of the colt from Port Perry resident Heffering. Banjo Farms of Toronto and WCB Racing Stable of Bordentown, NJ own the other shares of the youngster.
Since his early success in qualifying action Make My Day has amassed a record of one win, three fourths and two out of the money finishes in six starts for earnings of $30,578. He made his racing debut in a Gold Elimination at Georgian Downs on July 13, finishing fourth, then posted a sixth-place finish and a victory in legs of the Dream Maker Series at Woodbine Racetrack. In the Aug. 10 Final of the Dream Maker the colt carved all the fractions in the 1:53.3 mile but was run down in the final strides by three other colts, forcing him to settle for fourth by a mere neck.
Trainer Duane Marfisi prepped Make My Day for the Metro Pace with a 1:55.4 qualifier on Aug. 20, but the colt was dealt a tough hand in the Aug. 28 eliminations. Starting from Post 9 he made a brief break at the start that left him more than 15 lengths to make up over a sloppy racetrack, and then suffered interference at the top of the stretch. Another qualifier followed and the youngster bounced back with a fourth-place finish in a division of the Nassagaweya Stakes at Mohawk on Sept. 18.
“He’s had rotten luck with post positions and racing conditions, but I think he’s just coming into his own,” says Wilson. “We prepared him really for the Metro, but he had disastrous luck in the Metro, and we were aiming for the second half of the Sires Stakes. Hopefully he can make enough points to get into the Super Final.”
Wilson is looking forward to Friday’s contest on several levels. While hoping Make My Day and driver Randy Waples deliver a top five result from Post 4 in the third race, he is also looking forward to seeing what the rest of the field, particularly the other sons of Astreos, can accomplish over the Mohawk oval.
“There are four other sons of Astreos in those races and they all look pretty good,” says Wilson, referring to Astronomical, Isle Of Patmos, Lincoln Parke and Zooka.
“I think you’ll see Ontario-sired two-year-olds going in 1:51 and a piece this year. There are horses in these two races that, given the right conditions, the right race, are quite capable of going in 1:51 and a bit. I just hope mine is one of them,” he adds.
The two-year-old pacing colts will try to live up to Wilson’s predictions in Races 3 and 6 on Mohawk Racetrack’s Friday evening program, which gets under way at 7:40 pm. The top five finishers from each nine-horse elimination will return to the Campbellville oval on Saturday, Oct. 9 for the fourth of five $130,000 Gold Finals on their racing calendar.