SARNIA, ON — Ontario’s exciting three-year-old trotting colts wrap up their Grassroots regular season at Hiawatha Horse Park on Thursday evening and Wendell Waples is hoping another strong performance from Oaklea Nolan will secure the colt one of 16 spots in the Semifinals.
With two Grassroots starts under his belt the Balanced Image son has a record of one win and one second-place finish for a total of 75 points, putting him in a three-way tie for the sixteenth spot in the division standings.
“He’s just a horse, a nice horse, but nothing flashy,” says Waples. “He puts his head down and does what he can do. He’s a great big horse, but he is handy on a small track.”
All seven of the colt’s sophomore starts have come over half-mile tracks and the lanky trotter has posted a record of five wins, one second and one third for Hepworth resident Waples and his partner Mark Wilson of LaSalle. After making his season debut at Hanover Raceway on July 13, Oaklea Nolan put together a five race win streak at the Grey County oval, culminating with wins in the elimination and Final of the Dream of Glory Stake.
Since his Aug. 13 Dream of Glory triumph the colt finished second in Grassroots action at Sudbury Downs on Aug. 27 and then posted a third-place finish in a three-year-old conditioned event back at Hanover on Sept. 10 after roaring to a :57.1 half.
“He’s fairly sensible, but he has a few quirks on the racetrack sometimes. He can get a little aggressive, like last week,” says Waples of the colt’s early speed. “That was something he hadn’t done so far this year, but it was something he had done before.”
The veteran horseman expects Oaklea Nolan to be back on his best behaviour Thursday after making a few changes in his between race routine.
“I blame that on myself more than anything. I didn’t have him trained up enough,” explains Waples. “He’s better when he races every week; he has a bit of a brain when he races every week.”
Oaklea Nolan and driver Jim McClure will make their bid for a top finish from Post 1 in the second race on Thursday and Waples says the pair are in for a stiff test.
“There are some nice horses in there with him. Dr. Hayes’s horse (A Hay Luva Paige) and that Runway, he doesn’t get the recognition he should be getting. He can finish 100 miles an hour that little fellow,” notes the trainer. “We’ll just hope for the best.”
While most of Oaklea Nolan’s wins have come off front-end victories, Waples is confident that the colt can come-from-behind if McClure opts for that strategy in Thursday’s $15,000 battle.
“He’ll race from anywhere, he doesn’t have to be on the front,” says Waples. “I leave that up to Jim. He’s made all the calls so far and he’s done a great job.”
In addition to A Hay Luva Paige and Runway, both currently sitting in the top 16, McClure and Oaklea Nolan also face division leader Berning Image who boasts a record of two wins, one second, one third and one fifth in five Grassroots starts for a total of 142 points.
Oaklea Nolan and his peers kick off the Grassroots portion of Hiawatha Horse Park’s Thursday evening program in Race 2. The other Grassroots divisions are featured as Races 4 through 8, with the Sarnia oval’s first race slated to go to post at 7:30 pm.
For a complete list of entries please go to:
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/esarfth.html