FRASERVILLE, ON — Heading into Thursday’s Grassroots event at Kawartha Downs two-year-old trotting colt Dandy Duke is in the thick of the race for a post season berth back at his hometown oval in October, and trainer John Bax thinks the gelding has the right attitude to make it happen.

“He really wants to go. It’s kind of nice when they want to race,” says the Peterborough resident. “It’s his home track, so with a little luck he should get a few more points, and he should be okay for the Grassroots Semifinal back at Kawartha (Oct. 20).”

Through his first three Grassroots starts Dandy Duke has recorded one win, one second and one fourth for a total of 83 points and sole ownership of fifth place in the division point race. The son of Duke Of York and Gramola will try and boost his point tally from Post 4 in the second $17,109 Grassroots division on Thursday, facing off against a field of seven that includes point leader Norwell Incredable from Post 3 and former division winner Rumorsliesnalibies, co-owned by Bill Van Katwyk of Peterborough, from Post 7.

“He fits in the Grassroots pretty well,” notes Bax, who trains the gelding for breeder Glengate Farms of Campbellville, Al Libfeld of Pickering, Marvin Katz of Toronto and Robert Kauffman of Wellington, FL. “I’ve trained a few out of that mare now and he’s maybe the most aggressive; he’s the raciest.”

In addition to Dandy Duke, Bax will also harness Badge Of Honor and Remarkable Man. Badge Of Honor will make his fourth lifetime start from Post 6 in the fifth race and Bax is hoping the Striking Sahbra son can build on the progress he made in his Sept. 1 outing at Woodstock Raceway.

“He actually raced pretty good at Woodstock. He just got tired in the last turn and fell apart,” says the trotting specialist. “He’s a big, clumsy colt that will be better as a three-year-old. He’s kind of racing for the experience.”

Badge Of Honor sat third through much of the mile in the Woodstock Grassroots event before making a break around the last turn and fading to sixth. Bax hopes the larger turns and familiar surface of the Kawartha oval will see the colt deliver a solid effort and pick up his first cheque for owners Libfeld, who also bred the young trotter, Katz and Kauffman.

Remarkable Man makes his first start in the Grassroots program on Thursday and Bax is hoping to see an improved effort from the son of Angus Hall and Armbro McKeown.

“He started out really well, lost his focus and got gelded. This will be his first start back from being gelded,” explains the horseman. “He’s a real nice colt, he was ready early, but he just got making mistakes. He got a few races in him, got a little studdy and started picking up some bad habits.”

Remarkable Man has not raced since an Aug. 30 overnight at Kawartha Downs, where he made a break and finished a distant eighth. He started his season with a runner-up finish in the July 16 Gold Series season opener at Grand River Raceway, came back and finished sixth in the Final, but then made breaks in the elimination and final of the August Gold event at Mohawk Racetrack.

Bred and owned by Glengate Farms and Peifer Farms Limited of Chatham, Remarkable Man starts from the outside Post 8 in his Grassroots debut Thursday.

Stephen Byron will pilot all three of Bax’s entries in Thursday’s Grassroots contest, which gets under way at 7 pm. The two-year-old trotting colts will battle for points and entertain the Kawartha Downs fans in Races 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

For complete entries please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/ekdfth.html