FRASERVILLE, ON — Six months after he captured a pair of maiden races at the Fraserville oval, three-year-old trotter Windsun Pride is making a triumphant return to Kawartha Downs this Tuesday, Sept. 16 as the current Grassroots point leader and a winner of $72,750.
“He has handled the world of racing very well,” says trainer Philip Coole, who shares ownership on the gelding with Dr. Peter Johnston of Peterborough and Stoney Island Stable of Kincardine. “It’s an honour to have a horse like this. He’s very welcome in our barn.”
Unraced at two, Windsun Pride launched his career at Kawartha Downs in late February with a pair of wins in the non-winners of one race class. Moving to Woodbine Racetrack, the son of Kadabra and SJs Sentiment posted a 2:01 personal best in the maiden class and then ran into what Coole calls a few mental issues through April and early May that left him out of the top three in four consecutive starts.
“Mentally he just wasn’t as mature as he was physically,” explains the Puslinch resident. “But he’s got over that. He’s settled into a very mature horse, you couldn’t ask for better. He’s a pleasure to be around.”
Windsun Pride returned to the winner’s circle in the Grassroots season opener, touring Western Fair Raceway’s half-mile oval in 2:00 on May 27. In the second Grassroots event, on June 22 at Rideau Carleton Raceway, the gelding was a narrowly beaten second, but he was back in front of the Dresden Raceway grandstand for a photo opportunity just two weeks later with his second Grassroots win.
Since the July 6 event at Dresden, Windsun Pride has only raced five times, but they have been five very productive outings. In overnight action at Mohawk Racetrack in early August the gelding clocked a personal best 1:56.1, and then came back 10 days later to score a commanding win in the fourth Grassroots event, touring Flamboro Downs in 1:59.2. Fifth in an Aug. 28 overnight at Mohawk, Windsun Pride picked up his eighth win of the season at the Campbellville oval on Sept. 4.
“He’s very versatile, he can go over any size track,” notes Coole. “He’s a very, very fast horse, and now that he’s matured mentally, you can drive him any way.”
Veteran reinsman Dave Wall will steer the trotter from Post 2 in the second race on Tuesday, facing off against a field of Grassroots veterans, including former division winner Canadian Frontier from Post 7.
Coole says the gelding is in fine form heading into the last two Grassroots events of the season, and the horseman has no intention of changing the routine Windsun Pride settled into early in his education.
“He gets jogged very early in the morning and then he likes to sleep and snore,” says the horseman. “It was kind of a joke around here last year. He would jog, eat, and then lay down — stretch right out and snore.
“He eats well, sleeps well and snores well. He’s very easy on himself,” adds Coole with a chuckle.
On Tuesday, the easy going youngster will attempt to add a few more points to the 175 he has earned through the first four Grassroots events. Kawartha Downs fans can catch the division leader and his rivals in Races 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8. Post time for the first $20,000 Grassroots skirmish is 4:15 pm.
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