BELLEVILLE, ON — When Stinging Force makes his 2005 Ontario Sires Stakes debut at Quinte Raceway on Friday evening, owner Glen Campbell will have to wait for a telephone call from his wife Carol to learn the results of the three-year-old trotting colt contest.
The Kingston resident left Sunday to go back to Africa, where he works for Exxon Mobil, and will miss the first three Grassroots events of the young trotter’s season.
“He comes home every eight weeks and that’s when he gets to see the glory of his horses,” says Carol Campbell. “He was disappointed he wouldn’t get to see the stake race Friday, but I’ll be up there with bells on.”
Standing in for her husband on Friday will be a group of family and friends keen to cheer Stinging Force on from Post 5 in the fourth race, the second of six Grassroots battles on the evening’s program. The colt heads into the $16,482 contest off a solid May 7 qualifier at Kawartha Downs and a May 14 overnight start at the Peterborough oval where he was hampered by Post 8 and sloppy track conditions.
“Everyone seems to think that he is a well bred horse and he is coming along very nicely,” says Campbell. “They just drool over him when he’s at the barn.”
A son of Balanced Image, Stinging Force made one start in the Grassroots and two starts at the Gold Series level as a two-year-old, but the Campbell’s and trainer Joseph Reid have decided to concentrate on the Grassroots program this season and the group are hoping the trotter can kick things off with a win at their local oval.
“It’s always nice getting in that winner’s circle,” says Campbell, who handles the administrative side of the family’s 12-horse operation. “And, like I said to my husband, it’s so nice signing the back of a cheque instead of the front.”
Among the horses Stinging Force faces in his first provincial test as a sophomore are a pair of colts who competed in the Grassroots Final last November. King Brent, who finished out of the money in the freshman season finale, will start from Post 2 while the third-place finisher from the $100,000 Final, Claytons Valleylad, gets Post 6.
Claytons Valleylad is one of five starters Arthur-based trainer Ross Henry will send out on Friday, beginning his pursuit of a fifth Johnston Cup title as the top trainer in the Ontario Sires Stakes program. Peterborough resident John Bax will harness four colts in the Grassroots opener and Lansdowne resident Mark Steacy starts a trio, including two owned by David Reid of Glenburnie. Ambers Lavec will start from Post 2 in the second race while Tequila Dream gets Post 3 in Race 9.
The three-year-old trotting colts will compete for a total of $98,672 in the first of six Grassroots events on their schedule this season. Quinte Raceway sends its first race behind the starting gate at 7:25 pm on Friday, with the trotting colts scheduled to heat things up in Races 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9.