INNISFIL, ON — The Ontario Sires Stakes program swings back into action on Saturday with four Grassroots divisions for the two-year-old trotting colts at Georgian Downs.

Snoops Bytes leads the colts into their fourth Grassroots event with a perfect record of three wins in three starts for a total of 150 points. Ray Paquette bred, owns and trains the Kawartha Snoopy youngster, whose only loss this season came in the July 13 Gold Eliminations at Kawartha Downs where he finished fourth. Regular driver Rick Webb will attempt to add a fourth win to Snoops Bytes’ impressive resume from Post 6 in the sixth race.

Local colt Mystical Mac will attempt to boost his Grassroots point total from Post 6 in Georgian Downs eighth race on Saturday. Owned by Northorn Stable of Innisfil and MacDonnell Stables of Allenford, Mystical Mac delivered a runner-up finish in his only Grassroots start this season and needs another top three effort to move within striking range of a berth in the post season. Randy Fritz will pilot the gelding on Saturday night and trainer Ted MacDonnell believes Post 6 will work to the duo’s advantage.

“He’s drawn a good post. I think it will be very favourable for him; he’s got horses on either side of him,” says MacDonnell. “I think we’ve got a shot.”

Mystical Mac made his first Grassroots start at Elmira Raceway on Sept. 2 after spending the summer kicking up his heels in qualifying action. MacDonnell qualified the Mr Lavec son for the first time on July 16 and made three more efforts before the headstrong youngster delivered an effort without any breaks in stride. He made his debut in a non-winners of $6,000 at Hanover Raceway on Aug. 24, finishing third from the seven-hole, and then recovered from a break behind the gate to record the second-place finish at Elmira.

“He’s had a little bit of misbehaviour behind the starting gate. Nothing major, just a lack of focus. When he’s in gear he’s 100 per cent,” says MacDonnell. “He’s started to get better. In fact he surprised me in his last start. I didn’t think he would do that (make a break) because he’d been so good, but he did make a great recovery.”

MacDonnell, one half of the Northorn Stable with Innisfil’s Jeff Ruch, adds that the strapping trotter should find Georgian Downs’ five-eighths mile surface more to his liking than the half-mile ovals in Hanover and Elmira.

“He’s a real big colt, probably as big a two-year-old as we’ve trained,” says the veteran horseman. “Mind you he trots a turn real good, but I know he’ll be better on a big track just because he is that big.”

Like many of his peers Mystical Mac enjoyed a holiday from the races during the Ontario Sires Stakes annual September break and heads into Saturday’s event off a schooling race at Mohawk Racetrack on Sept. 17.

“I didn’t want to put very many starts on him this year, so I just schooled him myself yesterday (Tuesday),” MacDonnell explains. “He was good, he’ll be nice and tight.”

Among the colts Mystical Mac will face in the eighth race is the horse who bested him on Sept. 2. Bone Crusher will start from Post 1 in rein to Paul Mackenzie. Kyle Reibeling of Harriston owns and trains the Dem Speedy Bones son, who also has a fifth-place finish to his credit for a total of 55 points, five points above the current cut off for the Grassroots Semifinal which will be hosted by Georgian Downs on Nov. 2. The top four finishers from each Semifinal will advance to the $100,000 Championship at the Innisfil oval on Nov. 9.

Georgian Downs raises the curtain on its Saturday evening program at 7:30 pm and spotlights the two-year-old trotting colts in Races 1, 2, 6 and 8.