REXDALE, ON — Ontario’s top three-year-old trotting colts return to Gold Series action at Woodbine Racetrack on Saturday, with reigning Gold Final champ Witness Perfection hoping to defend his title in the first of two $50,000 eliminations.
Milton resident Cal Campbell recently assumed training responsibilities for the San Pellegrino son and has been working hard to ensure the colt is in top condition for Saturday’s battle.
“I like to start by taking a blood sample and sending it to the lab,” says Campbell. “I look at the muscle count, especially with trotters, and the white count, making sure the horse is not sick.
“He did show a high kidney reading and I think we can help him out there, there’s a product you get from the tack shop that helps flush the kidneys, but that was the only thing, really, that I saw was a problem.”
Campbell also evaluated the colt’s shoeing and added more cork to his front shoes to reflect the current track conditions at Woodbine.
“I don’t like to tinker too much with shoes if a horse is trotting. I’ll tinker a little bit, but this week I didn’t change anything,” says the horseman. “I’ll talk to Trevor (Ritchie) after the race to see how he trotted and how he was grabbing the track and we’ll work together to make any changes.”
Driver Trevor Ritchie will send Witness Perfection after his third Ontario Sires Stakes victory from Post 4 in the first race on Saturday, and Campbell hopes the minor changes he has made will help the pair deliver a more impressive finish than they did in an overnight event at Woodbine on June 14.
“The horse is feeling really good. So far I like him, he’s intelligent for a three-year-old trotter and he doesn’t act green,” notes Campbell. “He goes out on the track and he’s sensible. He’s the type of horse that could last a while. He might stay sound longer because he’s not hard on himself.”
Bred and owned by Dottie Morone’s Cedar Post Management LLC of Pemberton, NJ, Witness Perfection found his way into Campbell’s care because of a trip both made to Hippodrome Montreal in 2002. The pair struck up an acquaintance while racing top trotters Dr Ronerail and Victory Margin in the Trot Mondial.
“Dottie told me she just wanted him trained lightly and she wanted me to get him out in the paddock,” says Campbell. “We have big paddocks and he was having a blast out there, going 100 up and down the fence.
“He’s good feeling, we’re just hoping he goes good on Saturday.”
Among the challengers to Witness Perfection’s crown in the first elimination are four newcomers to the 2004 Gold Series and four veterans of the May event. Leading the field in the second elimination are In Conchnito, who heads into the event off a fourth-place finish in the Goodtimes Final at Woodbine on June 19, and Coventry, who finished sixth in the Goodtimes and captured the Connors Memorial Final at Hazel Park on June 5.
Post time for Woodbine Racetrack’s Saturday evening program is 7:40 pm, with the colts featured in Races 1 and 4. The top five finishers from each elimination will return to the Rexdale oval on July 3 for the second $130,000 Gold Final of their three-year-old season.