Bigtime Ball returns to Kawartha Downs on Tuesday for a shot at the $130,000 OSS Gold Final and needless to say, the three-year-old pacing gelding will have his fair share of fans at his hometown track.
After Bigtime Ball's track record performance in the Gold Elimination round there were so many people in the winner's circle, trainer Gord Irwin was barely able to register which members of his family were among the crush.
"There was a big crowd on Tuesday. 20 some odd came out to get their picture taken and that wasn't everybody," says the Cobourg resident, who also bred and owns Bigtime Ball. "I don't even know who all was there; I was so busy getting the horse from Paul (MacDonell). My wife stood right next to Paul, and I didn't even know she was there."
Last Tuesday was the first time Bigtime Ball had graced the Fraserville oval, and Irwin admits he had been looking forward to watching the talented young pacer show off his skills in front of a hometown crowd.
"I was looking forward to it all year," admits the horseman. "It's sort of nice to come back to your home turf. There are so many people that I know in this area."
Bigtime Ball's second opportunity to dazzle the local crowd comes in Tuesday's seventh race when regular reinsman Paul MacDonell will send the pacer after his second Gold Final title from Post 5. The Oshawa native has been pleased with Bigtime Ball's performance in his last two starts and is looking forward to taking another run at the province's top sophomore pacing colts.
"He seems to have come around here in his last two starts. He is really, really sharp," says MacDonell. "He had a little bit of a break after the Confederation Cup, and he's come back pretty strong."
In preparation for last week's Gold Elimination, Bigtime Ball was second in his Sept. 8 Simcoe division at Mohawk Racetrack, clocked in 1:49.2. The race was the gelding's first since he made a disappointing break in the Aug. 19 Confederation Cup Final at Flamboro Downs after winning his elimination heat earlier in the day.
Bigtime Ball started from the trailing post in the Confederation Cup Final and Irwin admits it gave him pause when the youngster drew the trailing Post 9 for last week's elimination.
"I was a little concerned about the nine-hole because we had the nine-hole in the Confederation Cup and it didn't work out very good for us," recalls Irwin. "But Paul said he was excellent. He said he could have driven him with two fingers."
For his part, MacDonell says he has confidence in Bigtime Ball's versatility, noting that the gelding shares that characteristic with $2.2 million winning sister Invitro.
"He's really got a lot of Invitro's characteristics," says the reinsman, who is the regular pilot on both horses. "You can do what you want with him. In Barrie (July 14) we went to the quarter in :25 and a piece and made the front, and the next week I took him right to the back. He's very versatile in that way.
"They both have that heart and desire. Those are characteristics they both have," he adds.
Although Irwin does not like to compare the siblings, Bigtime Ball's second appearance at Kawartha Downs will likely draw just as many friends and family members to the Fraserville oval as Invitro did in her outstanding Ontario Sires Stakes campaign.
Fans will gather at Kawartha Downs for the 4:15 p.m. post time on Tuesday, Sept. 25 and cheer on Bigtime Ball in Race 7.