ELORA, ON — Tom Durand has ridden out enough highs and lows in his career to know there are no sure things in harness racing, but the Puslinch resident will admit to being excited about Yorktown Gunner’s potential as the two-year-old trotter heads into Monday’s $130,000 Gold Final at Grand River Raceway.

“He really wants to be a racehorse. He’s fearless and he likes his work,” says Durand. “At this point he’s doing everything we ask.”

Yorktown Gunner captured his Gold Elimination last Friday (July 22) with a 2:03.3 effort, sitting behind pacesetter Lord Valentine through most of the mile and then slipping out in the stretch to claim the half length victory. The Balanced Image son will start from Post 9 on Monday afternoon and Durand is confident the colt can handle the trailing position.

“I think that will suit him really good. I’d rather have that than the seven or eight,” says the trainer-driver. “He follows horses really well. I just hope the horses in front of him behave. That’s the worst part of the nine-hole, you can’t control somebody else’s horse.”

Durand trains Yorktown Gunner for his wife June Durand of Puslinch and breeder Lynn Baker of Shreve, OH. Baker sent him the colt after Yorktown Gunner was withdrawn from the Kentucky Standardbred Yearling Sale last fall.

“He was consigned to the Kentucky Standardbred Sale on opening day, but he developed an ailment and they weren’t able to put him in the sale,” recalls Durand. “So the breeder asked if I wanted to work on a yearling; I had his full sister Clarice Marie.”

Clarice Marie earned $313,408 under Durand’s tutelage, ranking her third among the offspring of Baker’s prolific broodmare B Cor Tamara, who has also produced $893,076 winner B Cor Pete and $666,267 winner B Cor Timgo.

A bigger version of his sister, Durand is cautiously optimistic that Yorktown Gunner will also surpass her on the achievement front.

“He’s kind of got what she didn’t have in power and muscle,” he notes. “He’s a couple of inches bigger than she was, and that helps him out a lot.”

Focusing on Monday’s race, the seventh on Grand River Raceway’s exciting Industry Day program, Durand is hoping to work out a trip similar to the one that landed Yorktown Gunner in the winner’s circle last week.

“At this stage any one of these horses could step up and win it,” he says. “It’s pretty obvious — I don’t want to give away my whole strategy here — but I think we know who is going to cut it out.

“And in these races it all comes down to how everyone sorts themselves out around the first turn, who makes mistakes and who doesn’t,” he adds. “After that it’s usually pretty smooth. I’m excited.”

Pass And Strike and trainer-driver Jason Gilchrist, who established a new freshman trotting colt track record last week, will start from Post 3 on Monday while Majestic Son makes his bid for a second straight victory from Post 5 with the services of reinsman Paul MacDonell.

Grand River Raceway’s $554,000 Industry Day program gets under way at 1 pm Monday. Ontario’s talented two-year-old trotting colts battle in Race 7, while the exciting two-year-old pacing colts square off in the $300,000 Battle Of Waterloo Final in Race 9.

In addition to the outstanding racing action, Industry Day is also an excellent opportunity to learn more about harness racing’s participants, both two and four-legged. Top drivers will be on hand to sign autographs, fans can have their photo taken with $4 million winner Gallo Blue Chip and children will enjoy Dr. Bones’s Paleo Party where they will get an up close look at a horse’s bones. Other activities to entertain young fans include a colouring contest, face painting, a bouncy castle and clowns. Grand River Raceway will throw its doors open at 11 am on Monday, with most of the activities beginning between noon and 1 pm.

For a complete list of entries please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/egrvrmo.html