GLOUCESTER, ON — Bob McIntosh and Don McElroy, the leading Ontario Sires Stakes trainer and driver for the last two years, will send four sophomore trotting colts behind the gate at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Friday evening.
The long time partners open the Grassroots program with division leader Tyrone Dillon in Race 4 and will be looking for the Balanced Image son to return to the winning form he exhibited in his first three Grassroots starts.
“He didn’t get away right at Clinton and made a break behind the gate,” says McIntosh. “But he’s trained up good since then and he should be better up there.”
The miscue in the Sept. 7 event at Clinton Raceway was the only error Tyrone Dillon has made in an otherwise impressive season. Through seven starts the colt has tallied five wins and one third for earnings of $33,859 and he sits atop the Grassroots standings with 150 points.
McElroy will send the colt after a sixth win from Post 4 on Friday for La Salle resident McIntosh and his partners breeder Dave Boyle of Bowmanville and CSX Stables of Liberty Center, OH.
In the second Grassroots division, Race 6 on Rideau Carleton’s 6:30 pm program, Ethen Seelster will make his Grassroots debut after battling in the Gold Series for two and half months with limited success.
“He hasn’t had much luck in the Golds so we thought we’d take a step backwards and see if we can’t braven him up a bit,” says the veteran trainer. “He just hasn’t got back on track this year; a few times it hasn’t been his fault, and a few times it has.”
A winner of $272,093 as a two-year-old, Ethen Seelster has only managed one second and one third through six starts this season. The Mr Lavec son, also owned by McIntosh, Boyle and CSX Stables, will be looking to add a win to his record from Post 3 in Friday’s sixth race.
The acknowledged fourth-stringer of McIntosh’s trotting squad, Mr Tantalizer will also be looking to improve his 2003 record from Post 4 in the eighth race. Through seven starts the Mr Lavec son has managed a pair of third-place finishes and has consistently failed to meet the expectations of McIntosh, CSX Stables and Michelle Baillargeon Emery of Windsor.
“He hasn’t come back exactly how we planned,” says McIntosh. “We’re still trying to find the key to him this year. Right now he is just going through the motions.”
While Mr Tantalizer has been a disappointment and a puzzle for his connections, McIntosh’s final starter in the Grassroots event has been a pleasant surprise.
“Wireless Image is a big strong horse who just keeps getting better. He’ll be a good aged horse,” notes the trainer. “We did a bit of work on him after Clinton so he should be good up there.”
Wireless Image and McElroy will attempt to pad their Grassroots point total from Post 6 in the tenth race. Currently sitting twelfth in the division standings with one win, one third and one fifth in three Grassroots starts, the Balanced Image son could lock up a spot on the gate in the Oct. 26 Grassroots Semifinal with a strong finish Friday.
McIntosh, CSX Stables and Michael Kohler of Sterling Heights, MI share ownership on Wireless Image, who has earned $32,528 through nine starts this season.
Rideau Carleton Raceway sends its first race postward at 6:30 pm on Friday and turns the spotlight on the three-year-old trotting colts in Races 4, 6, 8 and 10.