ELORA, ON — When it comes to two-year-old trotting colt Mackcrest, who makes his fourth Grassroots start at Grand River Raceway on Monday, Oct. 8, trainer Frank O’Reilly says there has never been more truth to the adage �pretty is, as pretty does.’

“Mackcrest is not the fanciest looking horse,” quips the Orton resident. “There are lots of good things about Mack, but his appearance isn’t one of them.”

Among the colt’s good qualities are his heart, his brains and his steady attitude, which he will put to the test from the trailing Post 9 in the second of five $20,897 Grassroots divisions at the Elora oval on Monday. O’Reilly says while it will be the Kadabra son’s first experience starting from the second tier, he does not expect it to hinder Mackcrest’s attempt at a fourth straight pay cheque in Grassroots action.

�That won’t bother him, he’s all trot and all business,” says O’Reilly, who conditions the young trotter for Langcrest Farms of Grand Valley. “If Mack can just get a cheque we’ll be happy.”

In his Grassroots debut at Dresden Raceway on July 22, Mackcrest finished fifth in spite of an early break. At Woodstock Raceway on Sept. 1, the young trotter once again finished fifth, and then bounced back with a third in a Sept. 14 overnight at Grand River and a third in the Sept. 27 Grassroots contest at Kawartha Downs.

“He raced good there at Grand River the last time,” notes O’Reilly, who will hand the lines off to regular reinsman Bill O’Donnell for Monday’s contest.

O’Reilly jokes that he could put his feet up at Grand River on Monday and let O’Donnell and Langcrest Farms’s owner Irving Langill do all the work.

“Irving, he’ll be there, he loves going to watch Mack go. If I had to, I could get him to warm up, he’s quite the horseman himself,” explains O’Reilly. “He has carriage horses and does competitive driving. He comes over and jogs horses in the morning sometimes.”

With a total of 25 points earned through his first three Grassroots outings, Mackcrest is unlikely to extend his season beyond Monday’s event, but O’Reilly says the colt will be primed for battle.

“He’ll be there, and he’ll be ready to go.”

The two-year-old trotting colts will open Grand River Raceway’s Monday evening program at 7:30 pm, battling in Races 1, 2, 4, 7, and 8.

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