CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — Ontario’s top two-year-old trotting colts head to Mohawk Racetrack on Monday night where they will be joined by a sizeable group of newcomers to the Gold Series scene.

Fourteen of the 28 contestants are making their Gold Series debut, facing off against veterans like two-time Gold Final winner Mill Work. Trainer Kevin Davidson will harness two colts in the $101,768 event, the division’s number four colt Sam McCord and first time starter Way Up North.

“We kind of backed off with Way Up North for a while, but now he’s going nicely,” says Davidson’s partner Catherine Stewart. “We just hope he shows the faith we’ve had in him.”

Way Up North will make his racing debut from Post 7 in the fourth race on Monday and heads into the contest off a pair of solid qualifiers over the Mohawk oval, a 2:05.2 mile over an off track on Sept. 7 and a 2:01.4 effort seven days later. Phil Hudon will drive the Incredible Abe son, who was a $15,000 purchase at last fall’s Canadian Classic Yearling Sale.

Davidson owns Way Up North, while Stewart is the sole proprietor of Sam McCord, and the Campbellville resident says the two colts couldn’t be more different.

“When they trained down they were always side-by-side at the finish line, but Way Up North, he tries harder. Sam just sort of goes with the flow, but he (Way Up North) digs, he’s in there giving you all he’s got,” she explains. “They’re completely different personalities.”

Coming into the event off a month long vacation from the racing wars, Sam McCord makes his fourth Gold Elimination start from Post 5 in the sixth race.

The Chief Litigator son has been a steady presence on the competitive circuit, posting two seconds, one third and two fifth-place finishes in Ontario Sires Stakes action, but it is not his on-track results that have caught the eye of harness racing fans from Windsor to Ottawa.

“You have to see him. He’s a chestnut with three white legs, white spots and a white face,” says Stewart, adding that the colt resembles another flashy chestnut she and Davidson handled. “We also had Im A Standardbred and Sam could be his little brother.”

Stewart adds that Sam McCord’s unique qualities extend far beyond his physical appearance.

“He’s the most unusual horse I’ve ever had. I couldn’t even begin to tell you all the things he does,” she says. “He’s different, but you couldn’t ask for a better horse. He has a home for life.”

Stewart made the trip to the Northern Standardbred Sale in Barrie last fall specifically to acquire the dashing young trotter, and came home with a $7,900 bargain. Through seven starts the colt has already earned $78,702.

“He’s a big lazy going horse, but he always showed us he could trot,” says the owner and caretaker. “And one thing I’ve said, he’s not really fast, but he always stays at it, he tries.”

Sam McCord and his peers will impress Mohawk Racetrack fans in the second, fourth and sixth races on Monday’s 7:40 pm program. The top three finishers from each elimination, plus one fourth-place finisher drawn by lot, will return to the Campbellville oval on Oct. 4 for the fourth of five $130,000 Gold Finals on their freshman schedule.