DUNDAS, ON — When the three-year-old pacing colts arrive at Flamboro Downs on Wednesday, Aug. 8 for their third Grassroots event, trainer Gaetan Hebert is hoping Whitesand Raider can relax and deliver a solid effort over his hometown oval.

“He’s a funny nervous horse,” explains the Waterdown resident. “But he likes Flamboro, that’s where I broke him.”

In the first two Grassroots events, Whitesand Raider delivered a disappointing seventh in the June 18 season opener at Western Fair Raceway and an easy 1:57.2 victory at Clinton Raceway in the July 15 contest. Since that victory the son of Northern Luck and Whitesand Hustler has posted a pair of seventh-place finishes in the Canadian Breeders Championship Elimination and Consolation at Mohawk Racetrack and will compete in the Signature Pacing Series at Flamboro Downs on Aug. 3.

“He’s a horse that you need to stay on top of,” says Hebert of the gelding’s demanding schedule. “Train him hard and he races better. He likes his work.”

Whitesand Raider will start from Post 5 in the last of nine Grassroots divisions on Wednesday and Hebert would love to see the winner of $39,897 control the pace like he did in Clinton.

“He’s better if he’s in front. He’s tough to beat if he gets to the front,” says the trainer, who shares ownership on Whitesand Raider with Natasha Rivest of Brantford. “He doesn’t like to come from behind, he doesn’t try.”

Jim Wellwood is also hoping home field advantage comes into play for Presidential Sam and Grin And Tonic. The Ancaster resident will harness Presidential Sam from Post 4 in the first race and send Grin And Tonic after his first win of the season from Post 9 in Race 3.

“He’s got wicked high speed, but he’s become a kind of a high maintenance horse,” says Wellwood of Grin And Tonic, who is owned by 1187422 Ontario Inc. of Gloucester. “And he’s drawn poor a number of times.”

Grin And Tonic finished second in his sophomore Grassroots debut, touring Western Fair’s half-mile oval in 1:54.2, so Wellwood bumped the son of Grinfromeartoear up to the Gold Series for his second Ontario Sires Stakes start. The colt earned a fifth-place cheque in the July 9 Gold Elimination at Georgian Downs, but failed to make the final, so Wellwood opted for a return to the Grassroots.

Presidential Sam opened his 2007 provincial campaign with a 1:56.1 win at Western Fair, and followed it up with a fourth-place finish at Clinton on July 15. The Presidential Ball son, owned by Wellwood and 1187422 Ontario Inc., currently sits tied for ninth in the race toward the Grassroots post season, and Wellwood would like to see him boost his 58 point total with a strong start on Wednesday.

“He’s been a pleasant surprise, on the right day, he can beat any of them,” says the veteran horseman. “I suppose that’s the difference between the Gold horses and the Grassroots. The Gold colts make their own breaks, and the Grassroots horses have to have the opportunity right in front of them.”

The Grassroots colts will be hunting for their opportunities in Races 1 through 4, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 on Wednesday, Aug. 8. Post time for Flamboro Downs’s mid-week program is 6 pm.

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