BELLEVILLE, ON — An impressive line up of two-year-old trotting colts is heading for Quinte Raceway on Friday evening to compete in their third Grassroots event of the season.
In addition to the Grassroots regulars, several colts who have tried their hand at the Gold Series have opted to make the trip to Belleville for this weekend’s skirmish, including Savannah Sirius the runner-up from the Aug. 3 Gold Final at Windsor Raceway. The Incredible Abe son, who won his July 27 Gold Elimination with a 2:00.2 effort, will start from Post 3 in the eighth race for Bill Van Katwyk of Peterborough who bred, owns and trains the colt.
Returning to the Grassroots after trying his hand against the Gold colts is John Bax trainee Kingma Kosmos, who will start from Post 6 in the sixth race. “I thought he was going to be a nice horse, but I took him to Windsor and he trotted in 2:02 and got beat by 12 lengths,” says Bax ruefully. “I think he’ll be all right in there (Friday).”
Kingma Kosmos heads into Friday evening’s $18,000 contest off a solid runner-up finish in an overnight event at Kawartha Downs on Aug. 9 and Bax hopes the Mr Lavec son can build on that in spite of his outside post.
“He raced in an overnight here and actually trotted pretty good,” says the veteran trainer, who conditions the gelding for his partners Harry Locke of Oshawa and Jeffrey Langfelder of Atlanta, GA. “And he’s not a real big horse so he should be fine on the half-mile track.”
Steve Byron will steer the colt for Bax and the Peterborough resident is hoping that the young trotter can avoid the sickness currently making its rounds through his barn. Several of Kingma Kosmos’s two-year-old trotting colt stablemates are missing out on the trip to Belleville after being afflicted by the bug.
“There are a few colts that have got a bit of sickness, so I just hope he doesn’t get it,” says Bax. “I had two or three more to go down there, but they’ve all kind of gotten sick or have been sick.”
Among the colts Kingma Kosmos will face on Friday are two others stepping down from the Gold Series. Yall Just Jealous, one of six colts Arthur resident Ross Henry will harness on Friday, from Post 1 and Disturbed, who won his Gold Elimination and was third in the season opening Gold Final, from Post 4.
Division leader Shady Suspect, who is two-for-two in Grassroots action, will start from Post 5 in the third race.
Quinte Raceway sends its first race behind the starting gate at 7:25 pm on Friday evening and the two-year-old trotting colts will stir things up in Races 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9.