INNISFIL, ON — He has conformation, pedigree and a nice qualifier to his credit, but Tuesday’s Grassroots event at Georgian Downs will be the first test of racing skill for two-year-old trotting colt My Way John.
“Right now everything is new to him,” says trainer-driver Tony Kerwood. “So what happens out there, you never know.”
My Way John will start from Post 5 in the last of six $17,000 Grassroots divisions on Tuesday, facing off against a tough field that includes Gold Series drop outs Sergeant York and Hot And Coldplay from Posts 4 and 8.
The son of Angus Hall and $365,577 winner Aimees Image heads into the race off a pair of qualifiers at Mohawk Racetrack, the most recent a 2:03.1 effort on Aug. 10.
“I just qualified him in 2:03, so there’s no sense pushing him,” says Kerwood. “We just want to get him firing on all cylinders, get him tweaked out, and see where he ends up.”
Acquired by Wortzman Pryce Stable of Aurora, Robert Harvey of Mississauga and George Ledson of Caledon for $90,000 at last fall’s Forest City Yearling Sale, My Way John progressed steadily through his on-track lessons, but has been a bit of a handful off the track. As a result Kerwood opted for a slow and steady approach to the colt’s education and is pragmatic about Tuesday’s start.
“We’ve got this far with him, and we’ve got a little farther to go yet,” says the Caledon East resident. “If things don’t work out this week, we’ll shoot for next week, or next year.
“One start doesn’t make a difference to a horse’s career,” he adds.
My Way John is one of nine first time starters in Tuesday’s event, which also features 16 Grasroots veterans and 13 colts dropping down from the Gold Series after the first two events.
The two-year-old trotting colts will show off their skills in Races 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 at Georgian Downs on Tuesday, Aug. 21, with the first Grassroots division parading onto the racetrack at 7:35 pm.
For complete entries please go to:
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/egeodftu.html