DRESDEN, ON — Coming off a smart third-place finish in the Little Saratoga Final and with the first inside post he has seen in Grassroots competition this season, three-year-old pacing colt Summerhill Chris is poised for a solid effort at Dresden Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

“He should be able to get away with the pack, instead of having to come from behind,” says trainer Ronald Mairs of Chatham. “He can leave pretty good too, so we’ll see Sunday what the driver wants to do and how the race goes.”

Summerhill Chris and driver Alex Lilley will start from Post 2 in the last of eight $15,000 Grassroots divisions on Sunday. The last time the pair started from Post 2 at Dresden was the Aug. 21 leg of the Little Saratoga Series and they overcame interference at the three-quarters to cruise to a three length victory in 2:01.4.

“He had a win, a second and a third and got interfered with twice,” says Mairs of the gelding’s performance in the Little Saratoga Series. “He’s getting better all the time. He’s grown quite a bit and is more mature. He’s turned into a nice racehorse.”

Mairs and partner John Brooks of Ridgetown acquired the Pacific Rocket son at last year’s Summer Sizzler Sale for a bargain $5,200. The pair were attracted to the colt’s breeding — he has two $100,000-plus siblings — and his conformation, and their investment has proven to be a wise one. Over the last two seasons Summerhill Chris has earned them $21,795 through two wins, two seconds and six thirds in 25 starts.

“He’s a well bred colt and he looked good, he had clean legs,” recalls Mairs. “He had just won in Clinton in 2:06.1 and we bought him the day after. He paced last year in 1:57.4 as a two-year-old and he paced up in Sarnia in 1:54.4 this year.”

Mairs prepped Summerhill Chris for Sunday’s outing with a training mile on Wednesday and says the colt is ready for another tough Grassroots test.

“I trained him today (Wednesday) for Sunday. It’s supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow so I thought I’d better do it today,” says the semi-retired farmer. “He trained good, but there are horses in there as good as he is, if not better.”

Among the colts that Mairs, Brooks and Lilley will have an eye out for on Sunday are Must Be Matt, a three time winner at Windsor Raceway in August who will start from Post 3, Little Saratoga Final winner Southview Maverik from Post 4 and former Grassroots division winners Stonebridge Fame and Run Away Fame, who will start from Posts 6 and 7.

Robert Chapple of Chatham bred and owns Run Away Fame, who sits just below the current cut off for a berth in the post season Grassroots Semifinal.

The three-year-old pacing colts will battle in Races 2 through 5 and 7 through 10 on Sunday, with Dresden Raceway’s first race parading onto the track at 1 pm.

For a complete list of entries please go to:

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