DUNDAS, ON — Brantford residents Greg Durand and David Gage have been riding a roller coaster this season with two-year-old pacing colt Hombre, but Durand is hoping they are headed for an upswing at Flamboro Downs on Saturday afternoon when the youngster competes in his third Gold Elimination test.

“We’ve had trouble keeping weight on him, but I think we’ve got it rectified now. He’s looking better than he has since Peterborough (July 5),” says Durand. “We’ll find out Saturday, let’s put it that way.”

Hombre made his racing debut in the Gold Series season opener at Kawartha Downs on June 28 and finished second by three-quarters of a lengths after carving all the fractions in the 1:55.3 mile. Durand and Gage’s thrill ride began soon after the race when Hombre was left out of the Gold Final by a judges ruling that was later overturned by the Ontario Racing Commission.

Back in Peterborough for the July 5 Gold Final, Hombre proved he belonged in the $130,000 contest by posting a four and a half length victory in 1:54.3. Unfortunately the long trip and the extreme heat took it’s toll on the young pacer and he did not fare as well in the second Gold Elimination at Mohawk Racetrack on July 12, finishing sixth, or in the Battle Of Waterloo Eliminations at Grand River Raceway on July 22 where he finished fifth.

“Peterborough really knocked it out of him. It was so hot and he’s not a good shipper,” says Durand. “Hopefully we’ve got him back on track.”

Regular driver Reg Gassien will pilot the Astreos son from Post 4 in the ninth race on Saturday and Durand hopes the veteran reinsman will be able to work out a trip up the rail for Hombre.

“For the horse’s well being I’d like to see him get a trip,” says the trainer. “He got roughed up at Mohawk and roughed up at Elora, so I would like to see him get a trip to get his mind back to where it was.

“Half-mile track racing, I look at it as kind of a lottery, and if you draw the inside it’s better than the outside.”

Durand has been impressed with the colt’s temperament and talent since he was a yearling and is hoping Gage’s homebred can match or surpass his three $200,000-plus winning siblings Sweepalls Emerson, Ghost Of Sweepall and Run Dougy Run before his career is over.

�If they were all like him I wouldn’t mind breaking yearlings,” says Durand with a chuckle. “We took him up to the track around the first of June, to Mohawk, and he went a back half in :59 and a last quarter in :27 — in a jogger. We were thrilled that day.”

Hombre will try and deliver another thrill in the ninth race on Saturday, facing off against fellow Gold Final winner Alastor Hanover from Post 5 and former Gold Elimination winner Hunter Hylight from Post 2. The competition will be fierce as, once again, only the top two colts will advance to the Aug. 21 Final, part of Flamboro Downs’s exciting Confederation Cup program.

Post time for the Dundas oval’s Saturday program is 2:45 pm and the two-year-old pacing colts will wage their battles in Races 1, 4, 6 and 9. Saturday’s card also features the second leg of the track’s Signature Pacing Series.

For a complete list of entries please go to:

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