DUNDAS, ON — Ontario’s talented three-year-old trotting colts wrap up their Grassroots regular season at Flamboro Downs on Thursday, and trainer Joe Stutzman is hoping Think Gold can deliver a top performance and extend his sophomore campaign through the end of October.

“He’ll probably need something on Thursday. He’s tied for last right now I think,” says the Campbellville resident. “If he gets something Thursday, he should get in the Semifinal.”

Stutzman and partners Harness The Power Canada of Campbellville, Danny Petsanis of Singhampton, Dino Ruffa of Mississauga and Greg Vidic of Alliston acquired Think Gold at the Aug. 25 Summer Sizzler Sale for $32,000 and have recouped $18,183 in just four starts, two of them in the Grassroots program. In his first start under Stutzman’s tutelage the son of Mr Lavec and Next Victom posted a Grassroots victory at Grand River Raceway, then followed it up with a fourth-place finish in the Sept. 12 Grassroots event at Sudbury Downs.

Think Gold had already earned 25 points from a second-place finish in the Aug. 11 Grassroots event at Hiawatha Horse Park, giving him a total of 83 points and sixteenth spot in the division standings. The top 16 point earners through the six regular season events will meet up for a pair of $30,000 Grassroots Semifinals on Oct. 18 at Kawartha Downs, with the first four finishers from each Semifinal returning to Kawartha on Oct. 27 for the $100,000 Grassroots Championship.

The gelding will start from Post 5 at Flamboro on Thursday, and while Stutzman would have liked a spot closer to the rail, the veteran conditioner does not expect the mid-field post will present an insurmountable challenge to Think Gold and driver Randy Fritz.

“The inside would certainly be better, but he has got enough speed to overcome that,” says Stutzman. “He trots well on a half. He’s probably better on a half than on a big track, compared to his competitors.”

Think Gold started his sophomore campaign in the Gold Series, capturing an elimination in the May 20 season opener at Mohawk Racetrack, and it was the gelding’s success at the top level last season that caught Stutzman’s eye at the sale. As a two-year-old Think Gold won a Grassroots division in his provincial debut and a Gold Elimination at Flamboro Downs. Third in the William Wellwood Memorial, the brother to $801,377 winner Pepi Lavec earned $174,095 for his former owners.

“I had my eye on him,” says the horseman. “The back class, the $174,000 or whatever he made last year, that’s the part I liked.”

After capturing his sophomore debut in a personal best 1:56.1 and winning the May 20 Gold Elimination, Think Gold did not post a top five performance for almost three months. Stutzman says the trotter’s primary problem is his fiery nature, and has concentrated on keeping Think Gold’s environment as low-key and relaxed as possible.

“We try to keep him calm, keep him relaxed. He can get very hot in a hole,” says the conditioner. “We jog him on the back track at Mohawk first thing in the morning and put him on the Equi-sizer a lot; keep him away from other horses. He’s just a hot-natured horse.”

Think Gold heads into Thursday’s test off a second-place finish in an overnight event at Mohawk Racetrack on Sept. 28, and Stutzman says the gelding seems to be feeling good this week, so he is optimistic about making the trip to Kawartha Downs in two weeks.

Think Gold and Fritz will square off against a field of seven in the fourth race at Flamboro Downs on Thursday, the first of six $17,536 Grassroots divisions. The other divisions are featured as Races 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 on the Oct. 4 program, which gets under way at 6 pm.

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