SUDBURY, ON — When James Kay decided to open his own stable two and a half years ago, he set several goals for himself, one of which was to win an Ontario Sires Stakes race. Heading into Saturday’s two-year-old pacing colt Grassroots event at Sudbury Downs, the Hamilton resident has placed not one, but two check marks next to that goal thanks to division leader Mach It Paid.

“I’ve only been in this full-time for two and a half years and that’s one of the goals I set for myself — to win an Ontario Sires Stake,” explains Kay. “I had many opportunities before that to buy a blanket with the Ontario Sires Stakes logo on it, but in every circumstance I told myself, �I want to earn my first Sires Stakes blanket.’

“We’ve earned two and it’s just been fantastic. It’s already a dream come true.”

After a moderately successful stab at the Gold Series in June — Mach It Paid was third in his elimination before enduring a tough trip to finish eighth in the Final — the colt made his Grassroots debut at Quinte Exhibition Raceway on July 7 and got a flawless steer from driver Ray McLean, Jr. to claim a 2:01 victory from Post 6.

“Ray deserves all the credit there,” asserts Kay. “He gave the horse as close to a perfect trip as there is on that track. The horse never had to really work too hard for it, and he came out of the race just great.”

McLean was back in the race bike for Mach It Paid’s second Grassroots outing on July 18 at Georgian Downs, and this time the reinsman opted to sprint away from Post 5 and carve all the fractions in the 1:56.3 mile.

“He’s been handy, to say the least. He’s had to do it the tough way, that’s for sure,” says Kay, who shares ownership on the winner of $21,359 with Isaac Waxman of Ancaster. “I think he’s probably a Gold level horse, but we’d rather see him race in the Grassroots and come out of it with a fresher animal that is ready to go on as a three-year-old.”

A $21,000 acquisition from the Canadian Open Yearling Sale last fall, Kay says the son of Mach Three and Silver Words was impressive from the moment he stepped out of his stall in the sales pavilion.

“Isaac and I went down to that sale and we had a list of about 18 horses we wanted to look at, mostly colts, but a few fillies too,” recalls Kay. “We did everything, we measured them up, we looked at their teeth and this was the only animal that walked out of his stall and we said, �That’s the one we want.’ He looked the part from day one.”

Kay says Mach It Paid quickly proved he had not just beauty, but brains too, picking up his early lessons quickly and without fuss. As the day for the colt’s debut drew closer, Kay’s only concern was that the leggy youngster might not be suited to half-mile track racing, which eliminated four of the six Grassroots events and one Gold. Fortunately, Mach It Paid dispelled Kay’s worry with several successful schooling sessions over the Flamboro Downs half-mile.

“He handled the turns there no problem,” notes the horseman. “That renewed a little hope that we had some options.”

On Saturday Mach It Paid will display his skills over Sudbury Downs’ half-mile oval, starting from Post 7 in the third race, and his connections are hoping he can pad his point tally with another strong performance.

“We want to try and get enough points for the Semifinal and hopefully, somewhere along the line here, he’ll draw some sort of decent post,” says Kay, with an ironic chuckle.

Post time at Sudbury Downs on Saturday evening is 7:15 pm and fans will be entertained by the talented two-year-old pacing colts in Races 3, 5, 7, and 9.

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