CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — O U Gus is royally bred, qualified well and gets his first chance to prove he belongs among a talented two-year-old trotting colt Gold Series division this Thursday, Aug. 2 at Mohawk Racetrack.

“He’s a nice looking horse, he does everything right — trots clean, is nice on the racetrack,” says trainer Jerry Duford. “He’s pretty good, just needs a little luck I guess.”

The Campbellville resident has been impressed with the colt since O U Gus started his education last fall. He progressed flawlessly through the winter and made his debut at Mohawk Racetrack on June 23 in a two-year-old qualifier where he made an early break and trotted around the seven-eighths mile oval in 2:07.4. In a second qualifier on June 30 the son of Angus Hall and O U Guys, who is a full sister to $2.4 million winner Goodtimes, toured Mohawk in 2:06.2.

With those two preliminaries under the colt’s belt, Duford entered O U Gus in an overnight at Grand River Raceway on July 9, but a second break in stride caused the conditioner to back off on his plans to enter the young trotter in the first Gold Series event.

“He popped a splint on me and got off on it a bit, but he’s good now,” explains Duford. “He’s just a little behind those other ones because of it. I wish I could have raced him once.”

Duford did send the colt out in a third qualifier at Mohawk on July 20, and O U Gus delivered an impressive seven length victory in 2:02.1. Hall of Fame horseman Bill O’Donnell has driven the colt in all four of his on-track appearances and will pilot O U Gus from Post 5 in Thursday’s third race.

“I wanted somebody to stay with him to go around to all these other tracks, and Bill seems to do that,” notes Duford, who shares ownership on O U Gus with breeder Glengate Farms of Campbellville.

Among the colts that O’Donnell and O U Gus will face in the first of three $38,182 Gold Eliminations are recent 1:59.4 winner Finnegan from Post 3, Flamboro Breeders Stake division winner Sergeant York — who finished third in the season opening Gold Final — from Post 7, and Gold Elimination winner Hot And Coldplay from Post 9. In addition to O U Gus, five other colts in the group of 11 will make their Ontario Sires Stakes debut at Mohawk on Thursday.

Reigning Gold Final winner Keystone Titan and driver Dave “Mr. OSS” Wall face the daunting task of defending their crown from the outside Post 10 in the second elimination.

With three Gold Eliminations going postward on Mohawk Racetrack’s Thursday evening program, the two-year-old trotting colts and their drivers will be looking for a top three finish to guarantee a berth in the Aug. 10 Gold Final. One of the fourth-place finishers, selected by random draw, will round out the field of 10 in the $130,000 Final. Post time at the Campbellville oval is 7:20 pm.

For complete entries please go to:

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