REXDALE, NOV. 1, 2005 — Three months ago Scott Horner thought two-year-old pacing colt Doonbeg should retire to a field for the summer in hopes of finding a magic growth flower amidst the grass. However, the Toronto resident agreed to give the tiny pacer a little more time and his patience was rewarded last week when the colt captured his elimination and qualified for Saturday’s $130,000 Gold Final at Woodbine Racetrack.

“He is so small. He is such a freak to be as fast as he is,” says Horner. “Every one of the yearlings I saw at Hanover (Shoe Farms) last week — and I looked at 25 — is bigger than he is today.”

Doonbeg delivered a 1:52.4 effort, and a :27.3 last quarter, to claim his first Ontario Sires Stakes victory last weekend, but the Camluck colt is no stranger to the winner’s circle. Since his debut at Mohawk Racetrack on August 1 Doonbeg has recorded four wins in seven starts and earned $56,706 for Horner, his brother Clay Harland Horner of Toronto and Stew Firlotte’s Torlando Farms Inc. of Orlando, FL.

“His two strengths have been his desire and a great big motor,” says Horner. “This horse knows where the three-quarter pole is. You don’t even have to ask him, he just takes off like a rocket.

“He has a great gait and Camluck gets the credit for his attitude, although the others from the family had great attitudes too.”

The Horner’s and Firlotte campaigned two of the colt’s relatives, $362,024 winner Mattduff and $1,038,861 winner His Mattjesty, and acquired his mother seven years ago for her potential as a broodmare.

“We think this is one of the best pacing families in the game,” explains the longtime owner and breeder. “That is why we acquired his dam, St. Mattrick’s Way. She is a full-sister to Mattduff.”

Doonbeg and regular driver Jody Jamieson will start from Post 5 in Saturday’s Gold Final and Horner expects the colt to be even sharper than he was in the elimination. Last weekend’s start was the youngster’s first since Oct. 3 and he went into the race with very little training after battling a stubborn virus.

“We tried to train him, but we couldn’t because any kind of stress resulted in his white blood cell count going through the roof,” recalls Horner. “Last week all James (Dean) did was jog him fast, so I think he will be better this week. He couldn’t have been right last week.”

Division leader Alastor Hanover captured the other elimination last week and will put his nine race win streak on the line from Post 5 in Saturday’s fifth race. While Horner is not sure Doonbeg will be the colt that halts Alastor Hanover’s hot streak, he is hoping Mother Nature cooperates for the colts’ first match-up.

“Alastor Hanover is a tough colt. I don’t know if Doonbeg can beat him, but if our horse stays flat it should be a good race,” says the owner. “I hope it’s a nice evening, and I’d like the track to be fast.”

Woodbine Racetrack’s first race goes postward at 7:40 pm on Saturday, and the gifted two-year-old pacing colts compete for the last Gold Final trophy of their season in Race 5.

For complete entries please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/ewdbssa.html#N5