Flamboro Downs hosts back-to-back Ontario Sires Stakes events this week, starting on Wednesday, September 16 with five Grassroots divisions for the talented two-year-old trotting colts
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Larry Walker trainee Leslie Road heads into Wednesday’s contest off a 2:04.1 victory in the third Grassroots event, on September 7 at Dresden Raceway. The Duke Of York youngster has one win and one third to his credit through four starts, with both top three performances coming after the addition of trotting hopples to his equipment bag.
"He got a little excited trying to leave," says Morriston resident Walker of a break the colt made in an August 12 overnight at Hanover Raceway. "I knew we had some more small tracks to go to, so I put the trotting hopples on. It seems to hold him a bit."
Leslie Road made his debut in the July 21 Grassroots season opener at Georgian Downs, finishing fourth in a 2:02.4 mile. That effort and his victory in Dresden have earned the young trotter 58 points and sole ownership of fifth spot in the standings as the colts race toward one of 16 berths in the Grassroots post season.
The eleventh offspring from Walker’s broodmare Armbro Lois, Leslie Road has been easy to work with since birth, and Walker gives the colt high praise by comparing him with successful sibling Lois And Clark, a winner of $432,557 through a 10 year racing career.
"He’s always been pretty good. I think I’ve had 11 race out of the mare, and he reminds me of Lois And Clark," says the horseman, who shares ownership on Leslie Road with Tony Holmes and Walter Zent of Lexington, Kentucky. "He’s a little sweetheart to do anything with."
Walker will steer Leslie Road from Post 7 in the last $24,000 Grassroots division on Wednesday, lining up against a tough field that includes No. 2 and 3 ranked colts Hava Kadabra and Bare Knuckles. Two-time Grassroots winner Hava Kadabra will start from Post 1, while Bare Knuckles gets Post 2.
"With two-year-old trotting colts it’s not as big a deal as pacers, there’s always somebody making breaks," says the horseman about his outside post position.
"There’s some pretty good ones in there, we’ll just do what we can," he adds.
Walker has given Armbro Lois’s offspring a number of creative names over the years, and found inspiration in 2007 right outside his front door.
"That’s the road we live on," he explains. "I was looking for a name, it’s getting hard, and it sounds all right when they’re winning.
"Any name sounds good when they’re winning," he adds with a chuckle.
Post time for Flamboro Downs’ Wednesday program is 1 p.m., featuring the two-year-old trotting colts in Races 2, 3, 6, 7, and 9. The Dundas oval will also host Ontario Sires Stakes action on Thursday afternoon, when the two-year-old pacing fillies battle in their third Gold elimination.
To view Wednesday's harness racing entries, click here.
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