CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — With just five starts under his belt two-year-old trotting colt Dr. Robert Johns has already repaid his purchase price five times over, so Kathrine Moi says there is no pressure on the reigning Gold Final champion heading into Gold Series action at Mohawk Racetrack on Monday evening.

“He only cost us $16,000, so he’s paid himself back a few times,” says Moi, who shares ownership on the winner of $89,727 with trainer Anders Wolden of Moffat. “We’re just trying not to push him, just letting him do it in his own speed; we’ve said that all along.”

And patience has been required one more than one occasion as Dr. Robert Johns’s has navigated through the early stages of his career. The Balanced Image son made a break in his first qualifying attempt at Mohawk on June 25 and then came back 10 days later to log a very impressive 2:01.3 victory. Moi and Wolden selected the Grassroots program for the young trotter’s first start and Dr. Robert Johns made a break as the field turned for home, knocking him from second to sixth in the July 14 season opener.

“The first time he raced Anders drove him himself. He was kind of locked in and he didn’t want to pull him out, he just wanted to take it nice and easy, but the horse in front of him started to get tired and there was another horse coming on the outside,” recalls Moi. “So he kind of hit into the person in front of him and made a break.”

One week later the colt missed a Grassroots event due to sickness, so back they went to Mohawk for a third qualifier, which saw Dr. Robert Johns circle the seven-eighths mile oval in 2:02.4 on a track rated two seconds slower than normal. That effort earned the colt a trip to Rideau Carleton Raceway for the Aug. 21 Gold Series Eliminations where Dr. Robert Johns and Sylvain Filion teamed up for a striking 1:59.4 victory from the outside Post 8. One week later the pair were back in the Rideau Carleton winner’s circle after a track record 1:57.3 performance.

“It was exciting when he went to Rideau Carleton and won,” says Moi. “I was jumping up and down just like a kangaroo.”

Dr. Robert Johns returned to Mohawk for the William Wellwood Eliminations on Sept. 12 and finished a smart second to Glidemaster in 1:55.4, just one fifth of a second off the Campbellville oval’s track record for freshman trotting colts. However, in the $491,400 final the colt made a break at the start and was never a factor.

“When the gate is going he is kind of ready to go,” explains the Moffat resident. “But the starting gate was going slower and Sylvain (Filion) had to grab on to him and he made a break. (Filion) was afraid to drive him after that, he thought he might have stepped on himself or pulled a shoe.

“He’s so used to going from the start. I guess that’s the down thing, he was just too ready. He came a little too early to the gate,” she adds.

Dr. Robert Johns will try to make amends for the error from Post 4 in the sixth race on Monday, where he will get another shot at William Wellwood winner Was It A Dream, who lines up at Post 5. The top three finishers from each elimination, plus one fourth-place finisher selected by random draw, will return to Mohawk on Monday, Oct. 3 for their second last $130,000 Gold Final.

Mohawk Racetrack’s first race parades onto the track at 7:20 pm on Monday, with the two-year-old trotting colts featured in Races 2, 4, and 6. Racing fans who cannot make it to Mohawk on Monday can catch all the action from 7:30 to 10 pm on Race Night on The Score.

For a complete list of entries please go to:

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