REXDALE, ON — When Laddie steps up behind the Woodbine Racetrack starting gate on Friday, almost four months will have passed since his last Gold Final appearance, and driver Paul MacDonell says the three-year-old trotting colt has made maximum use of his opportunities outside the Ontario Sires Stakes program.

“He’s been right at the right times this year,” says the Guelph resident. “He was real good at Hambletonian time, and he was real good at Canadian Trotting Classic time, and he seems like he is real good right now too.”

Laddie made his sophomore debut in the Goodtimes Stake at Mohawk Racetrack in June and finished fourth in his elimination and the consolation. The Angus Hall son made his three-year-old Gold Series debut at Kawartha Downs on June 26 and swept to effortless victories in his elimination and the July 3 final.

Next, the colt scored a win in an overnight at Mohawk and was placed third in the Canadian Breeders Championship elimination before heading to New Jersey for eliminations for the $1.5 million Hambletonian. Fourth in his elimination, Laddie stepped up with a big mile in the final to claim third-place honours in the prestigious trotting race.

Trainer Paula Wellwood gave the colt a brief break before readying him for his second test against the best trotters in North America. A 1:56.4 qualifier at Mohawk on Aug. 24 and a third-place finish in the Sept. 1 Simcoe Stakes had Laddie sharp for the $1 million Canadian Trotting Classic. Fifth in his elimination, the winner of $887,920 once again rose to the occasion in the final, hitting the wire third behind the undefeated Donato Hanover and gifted trotting filly Pampered Princess.

The young trotter made an uncharacteristic break in an Oct. 13 overnight at Woodbine, but he was flawless in last week’s Gold Elimination, matching the Ontario Sires Stakes record with his 1:54.3 triumph.

“Overall he really has been a good little horse,” says MacDonell, who pilots the colt for Wellwood Stables Inc. of Cambridge. “He just made a break in the last turn that night — I think the track was a little loose for him, it caught us off guard actually — but he was real good the other night when the track was tightened up.”

MacDonell will steer Laddie from Post 7 in Friday’s Gold Elimination, and the veteran reinsman does not expect the post to have much impact on the versatile youngster.

“He’s pretty versatile, he can race from anywhere,” emphasizes MacDonell. “He really loves to come off cover. That’s his best race. If he can get towed into a race, he’s got a wicked piece in him. That’s how we raced him in the Hambletonian and Trotting Classic; he can really flourish off that.”

MacDonell expects former Gold Final winner Flirtin Man, Ontario Sires Stakes record holder San Pail, and elimination winner Arch Madness to give Laddie a run for his money from Posts 3, 6, and 10 on Friday, but the horseman is confident that Laddie will be ready for battle.

“He’s just got so much heart and desire. He seems to try so hard, that makes up for a lot,” explains MacDonell. “He’s not a big horse by any means, but his big heart makes up for his small stature.”

Laddie and his rivals will roll up behind the starting gate in the fifth race at Woodbine Racetrack on Friday. The Rexdale oval’s first race goes postward at 7:40 pm.

For complete results please go to:

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