FRASERVILLE, ON — Driver Paul MacDonell and pacer Bigtime Ball will return to their roots next Tuesday, Sept. 18, when Kawartha Downs hosts a trio of Gold Series Eliminations for the exciting three-year-old pacing colts.

Oshawa native MacDonell and Cobourg based Bigtime Ball head into Tuesday’s competition off a runner-up finish in the Sept. 8 Simcoe Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack, and trainer Gord Irwin says the colt seems to have bounced back from a bout of sickness that struck him after the Aug. 19 Confederation Cup.

“He got a bit of sickness after the Confederation Cup. He had a cough and was off for three weeks,” says Irwin. “But everything looks good now. He had a good trip last week, he went a big mile. We were very pleased with him.”

The son of Presidential Ball and Keystone Trinidad rocketed home in :26.1 to finish second by a head in the 1:49.2 mile at Mohawk on Sept. 8. It was the gelding’s twelfth top three finish in 15 starts and boosted his earnings to $282,070. In just four Gold Series starts Bigtime Ball and MacDonell have racked up one win and one third in elimination competition, and one win and one second in Gold Final action, for a total of 137 points and second spot in the division standings.

In spite of Bigtime Ball’s success, Irwin says comparisons to his $2.2 million winning elder sister Invitro are ridiculously premature.

“We like to compare, but I don’t think we can compare them. She is such a special individual,” explains the Cobourg resident. “I am very pleased with the way he is coming along. I just hope he becomes a nice aged horse like her.”

Unraced at two, Bigtime Ball has been gaining confidence with each start, and Irwin says the gelding has evolved into a fierce competitor, almost more aggressive than he and MacDonell had anticipated.

“He’s a very nice mannered horse. You can do anything with him jogging or training, but in a race, once you move him up, he becomes very competitive and a little more aggressive than Paul would like,” says Irwin, who also bred and owns the gelding. “He knows when Paul moves him it’s race time, and he’s there.”

MacDonell will pilot the gelding from the trailing Post 9 in the third $43,000 elimination on Tuesday and Irwin is hoping for a significantly different result than the last time the pair started from the second tier. After winning their Confederation Cup elimination at Flamboro Downs on Aug. 19, they drew the trailing nine-hole and Bigtime Ball made an early break.

“We only had it (trailing post) one other time and that was in the Confederation Cup and it didn’t turn out very good,” recalls the horseman. “I’m pretty sure he’ll be all right. Paul knows him really well.”

Post time for Tuesday’s battle is 4 pm, with the three-year-old pacing colts squaring off over the Kawartha Downs oval in Races 4, 7, and 9. The top three finishers from Tuesday’s eliminations will return to the Fraserville oval on Sept. 25 for their second last $130,000 Gold Final.

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