ELMIRA, ON — Fresh off an impressive opener to their Gold Series season, Ontario’s top two-year-old trotting colts are ready to dazzle fans at Elmira Raceway on Monday night in a pair of Gold Series Eliminations.
In both the July 13 Gold Elimination and July 20 Final the colts lowered the track record at Kawartha Downs and winner Meadowview Sunny’s 1:58.1 mile in the Final was just one-fifth of a second off the all-time fastest mile for freshman trotters over a five-eighths mile track.
Meadowview Sunny will put his undefeated record on the line from Post 2 in the fourth race on Monday with veteran reinsman Doug Brown making the trip to Elmira to handle the lines for trainer Paul Shakes of Stayner and owner-breeder Charles Reid of Orono. With the second and third-place finisher’s from Kawartha opting to skip the Elmira event, the Classic Adam son is expected to be the heavy favourite with local entry At A Boy Eric getting the nod as the second choice from Post 3.
Owned by Wellwood Stables Inc. of Cambridge and breeder Barry Hearn of St. Pauls Station, At A Boy Eric finished third to Meadowview Sunny in the July 13 Elimination and logged a sixth-place finish in the Final. The Bill Wellwood trainee is a full brother to former Ontario Sires Stakes competitors Kings Winner ($112,571) and At A Boy Adam ($107,538).
Elmira Raceway’s 2:01.4 track record will also be threatened in the second race on Monday’s 6:45 pm program. Among the colts hoping to earn a piece of the $46,683 purse is Second Go Round, the only colt of the 14 entrants making the leap from the Grassroots to the Gold Series.
The Royal Ballad son was a winner in the Grassroots season opener at Woodstock on July 6 in his first start and will tackle the Gold colts from Post 2 on Monday. Murray Brethour of Sunderland trains Second Go Round for owner-breeder Paul Lindsey of Fergus and will also handle driving duties on the young trotter.
“I guess he’s in pretty snug, but second or third is still awfully good money,” says Lindsey. “The other alternative was Belleville (for the second Grassroots).”
The colt heads into Monday’s event off a July 26 qualifier at Mohawk Racetrack where he made a break at the start, but Lindsey hopes the miscue was the result of an off track and won’t be repeated in the Elimination round.
“There were terrible track conditions. It was very windy and dusty,” explains Lindsey. “Mohawk usually has excellent track conditions, but it had rained very hard the night before and we were in about the last qualifier. There were big gusts of dust and the track was very loose.
“I think that was the reason for the break, but then two-year-old trotting colts are as unpredictable as the weather,” he adds.
Lindsey is hoping Second Go Round can finish in the top four in his Elimination on Monday in order to advance to the $130,000 Gold Final during Elmira Raceway’s annual Industry Day matinee on Aug. 5. The top four finishers from each Elimination will make the return trip to the Waterloo County half-mile.