LONDON, ON — Western Fair Raceway fans will get their fill of Ontario Sires Stakes action next week as the London oval hosts back-to-back cards of Grassroots action on Monday and Tuesday.

Eager to get their sophomore season off the starting gate are 83 pacing colts, who will battle for a share of $165,000 in provincial lucre on Monday afternoon. Among the locally owned youngsters favoured by Western Fair handicappers is Cuban Seelster, who will start from Post 5 in the fourth of 11 divisions.

“He’s come back pretty good, better than I expected really,” notes trainer Ray Bunn of Denfield. “I thought he would pace around 1:54 and he’s paced in 1:52 a couple of times. Of course Mohawk is a pretty easy place to make speed, so you take that for what it’s worth.”

Cuban Seelster heads into Monday’s contest with a record of two wins and three seconds in seven starts, his most recent efforts a second and fourth at Mohawk Racetrack where he paced in 1:52.4 and 1:52.3. He also posted a runner-up finish to Gold Series regular Warrawee Ideal in Flamboro Breeders action on May 23, clocking in at 1:54.3 over that half-mile oval.

“I am happy with his attitude. He acts like he wants to race somebody this year,” continues Bunn, who trains the gelding for his partners McCarthy Family Farms Ltd. of Granton, veterinarian Tara Foy of Ilderton and blacksmith Don Thomson of St. Marys. “Although I don’t know if he will want to race them when they go in 1:51, that sometimes separates the men from the boys.”

Bunn and his partners considered delaying Cuban Seelster’s 2007 Ontario Sires Stakes debut until later in June, when the Gold Series colts will roll into London, but the group decided their leggy youngster would be better off in the Grassroots at this stage in his development.

“I don’t think he can go with those guys, especially on the half-mile,” explains Bunn. “He’s a pretty big colt.”

Luc Ouellette, who piloted Cuban Seelster in his last three starts, will make the trip to London for Monday’s contest.

On Tuesday, the three-year-old trotting colts will kick off their 2007 Grassroots season and several local colts are expected to battle for a top spot in the $120,000 event, including Lorne House trainee Grogan, who starts from Post 1 in the second race.

“I’d sooner have three or four there maybe, but you get what the racing gods hand you and do the best you can with it,” says breeder and owner Emerson Gill of Grand Bend.

“I always shake and rattle when I am the favourite,” he adds. “That’s been the kiss of death for me over the years; and I got my first horse when I was 19, and I’m 60 now.”

Grogan also heads into the Grassroots season opener with seven starts under his belt, recording two wins and one second. Winner of a leg of the Tie Silk Series at Woodbine Racetrack on April 15, the Angus Hall son finished second off a tough trip at Western Fair on June 12 and was a 1:58 winner at Hiawatha Horse Park on May 26.

“He’s a little stronger this year I think, and we’ve tried to do our best to keep him calmed down, but that’s not easy,” notes Gill, who shares ownership on Grogan with Graeme Harvey of Ingersoll. “He’s pretty gentle and easy on himself, he sleeps a lot, but when he hits the track a whole new set of lights come on.”

Trainer Lorne House will steer Grogan in Tuesday’s second race, and will have an eye peeled for a trio of colts who have already found their way to the winner’s circle in London this season; Little Paco from Post 3, Sampson Eden from Post 5 and Kens On Lavec from Post 6.

The first race for both Monday’s pacing colt battle and Tuesday’s trotting colt showdown goes postward at 4:05 pm. The sophomore pacing colts will commandeer Races 1 through 11 on Western Fair Raceway’s Monday, June 18 afternoon program, while their trotting peers are spotlighted in Races 1 through 8 on Tuesday, June 19.

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