CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — After a three week break, Deuce Seelster returns to Ontario Sires Stakes action at Mohawk Racetrack on Monday and trainer Darren McCall says the freshman pacing colt is bigger and better than he was before the rest.

“He grew an inch or two, it kind of surprised me,” says McCall. “He was doing light work and I wasn’t paying too much attention to him, but when he was in the cross-ties a few days ago I took a look at him, and he was running down hill a bit.”

The Cambridge resident says the growth spurt does not seem to have impacted Deuce Seelster’s gait, adding that the Western Maverick colt has trained very well since his mini-vacation ended.

“He had probably four or five days off after his last start, then light jogging,” notes McCall, who conditions the winner of $309,345 for Katherine Bardis of Sacramento, CA. “He trained back very good. He’s very sharp.”

McCall opted to give Deuce Seelster the break rather than go to Rideau Carleton Raceway for the September Gold Series, because one of the young pacer’s few flaws is his lack of enthusiasm for long trailer rides. The horseman adds that the last Gold event, Oct. 24 and 31 at Windsor Raceway, is also a question mark.

“He doesn’t really truck good. He rocks the trailer,” explains the horseman. “You have to take another horse with him, that’s the only way he trucks good.”

Deuce Seelster will make his return to the provincial scene from Post 2 in the second $55,156 Gold Elimination on Monday, and Paul MacDonell will return to the race bike after handing the reins over to John Campbell for the Sept. 1 Metro Final and the Sept. 15 Champlain Stakes. After amassing a flawless record of six wins in six starts, including two Gold Eliminations and Finals and his Metro elimination, Deuce Seelster had to settle for fourth and second-place finishes behind MacDonell and rival Somebeachsomewhere in the Metro Final and Champlain.

“I was disappointed that he got beat, but he got beat by a very good horse,” says McCall, who was pleased to get MacDonell back in the race bike.

“It’s better to get a person that knows him than go looking for someone else,” he explains.

McCall says the colt is not difficult to drive and that he has a very high turn of speed. Surprisingly the horseman admits that the first time he trained Deuce Seelster, he was not impressed by the youngster and wondered if Bardis had made an error purchasing the colt from trainer Ervin Miller.

“The first time I trained him I really didn’t think he was any good,” admits the conditioner. “He doesn’t feel like a good horse.”

That changed when McCall asked the colt for a burst of speed, and the trainer has been a fan ever since.

“He really is a nice horse. I think he knows he’s pretty good, he has a bit of class about him,” the horseman explains. “There is something about a good horse, the way they carry themselves.”

Fans will get a chance to see Deuce Seelster in action in the fourth race at Mohawk Racetrack on Monday, Oct. 8, while the other Gold Elimination goes postward as Race 2 on the 7:20 pm program. The top five finishers from each elimination will head to Woodbine Racetrack on Oct. 15 for the second last Gold Final on their schedule.

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