REXDALE, ON — Although the purse in Saturday night’s Super Final is less than half of what three-year-old trotting colt Majestic Son raced for in the Canadian Trotting Classic three weeks ago, trainer Mark Steacy says he is feeling twice as much pressure heading into the Ontario Sires Stakes showdown at Woodbine Racetrack.

“He deserves to win, he’s supposed to win, and he should win, but this is just the time everything could go wrong,” says the Lansdowne resident. “It will be good when this race is over, because this is the race he deserves to win. I’m probably going to be more nervous than ever.”

On the up side the trainer says the son of Angus Hall and Celtic Contessa is heading into the race in fine fettle, but on the down side he and regular reinsman Trevor Ritchie will start from Post 9 in the field of Ontario Sires Stakes stalwarts.

“I was just done grassing him and he was jumping out of his skin,” says Steacy of the colt’s demeanour on Friday afternoon. “He seems to be very healthy right now, he’s a good weight, he’s come through the season really well.

“But the nine-hole is definitely a worry,” he admits. “It always makes it harder, although with this horse I’d probably rather have the nine-hole than the one-hole.”

Majestic Son is no stranger to outside post positions, he captured the $1 million Canadian Trotting Classic on Sept. 23 from Post 9 and set a track and Ontario Sires Stakes record in an Aug. 26 Gold Elimination at Georgian Downs from Post 8, but it has added to the burden of worry Steacy is carrying on his shoulders this week. Among his other concerns is sending his $1.5 million protege into a retention barn with 76 other horses at a time of year when illness tends to run rampant through the province’s equine population.

“The only thing that concerns me about retention is sickness,” says the trainer, who will drop Majestic Son off at the Mohawk retention barn at 11 pm on Friday evening. “He looks after himself good in retention, but there are a lot of young horses in there, and there is sickness this time of year, so that’s always a worry.”

Steacy would hate to see the colt come up sick before Saturday’s Super Final, or in the days after. Eliminations for the Breeders Crown go postward on Oct. 21 and the trainer and his partners in the Majestic Son Stable are looking forward to another crack at Hambletonian winner Glidemaster, who they have bested on two of three occasions so far this season.

“If we could beat Glidemaster again that would be great, there’s no question. If he could, I’m hoping it would cinch an O’Brien Award for him,” says the trainer, who watched the colt settle for runner-up status to Was It A Dream on last year’s O’Brien ballot.

However, before he tackles the Breeders Crown or year-end honours, Steacy would just like to see Majestic Son finish up his Ontario Sires Stakes career on a winning note.

“I’d be happy to win in 1:57 tomorrow,” he admits. “Just for him to win it, that’s all that matters.”

Post time for Saturday night’s $2.4 million Super Final showdown is 7:40 pm, with Woodbine Racetrack featuring the eight $300,000 season finale’s in Races 3 through 10. Majestic Son and his three-year-old trotting colt rivals will square off in Race 9.

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