Sharon resident John Hayes has owned enough two-year-old trotters to realize that anything could happen at Georgian Downs on Tuesday, July 21 when the freshman trotting colts make their Grassroots debut

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Hayes owns a share of Baylon De Vie, who makes his second career start from Post 8 in the fifth $24,000 Grassroots division, and the longtime owner says trainer John Bax has exercised a great deal of patience with the young trotter.

“He’s a two-year-old and I think John has had to be patient with him,” says Hayes. “I don’t know that much about him, but if you talk to John, he might say he’s been a little bit of a project.”

Baylon De Vie made his first on track appearance in a June 22 qualifier at Mohawk Racetrack. In rein to Paul MacDonell the son of Angus Hall and Angelique Hanover made a late break and finished well back of the leaders. Bax dropped the gelding in to qualify five days later at Kawartha Downs and Baylon De Vie made an early break that left driver Steven Sills watching the action from the rear of the field. On July 4 Bax stepped into the race bike himself, and piloted the gelding to a steady 2:08 qualifying effort at Kawartha Downs.

Hoping to get a race experience into Baylon De Vie before the Ontario Sires Stakes season got under way, Bax entered the trotter into an overnight at Kawartha on July 9, but Baylon De Vie sat on the outside through the first three-quarters of the race and then made another error that sent him back to the qualifying ranks. With Bax once again in the race bike, Baylon De Vie delivered a steady 2:05 effort over the Mohawk Racetrack oval during qualifying action on July 17 to earn a shot at the Grassroots contenders this Tuesday.

“He likes to run a little too fast,” explains Hayes. “Sometimes when they are two and they run that fast, they don’t race very well.”

Hayes shares ownership on Baylon De Vie with Bax’s Parkhill Stud Farm of Peterborough, Lewis Palmer of Oshawa and Don Allensen of Camlachie. The gelding, a $25,000 yearling purchase at last fall’s Harrisburg Yearling Sale, is one of four horses Bax currently trains for Hayes.

“I have been with John for about 15 years and it’s still fun,” says the owner. “He does a good job. He’s the ideal guy for people who are just new to the business. He takes a lot of time to explain, to tell you the ins and outs of the business.”

Hayes, who works at Georgian Downs for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, grew up in Peterborough and caught the harness racing bug as a youngster.

“I grew up in Peterborough right beside the old Morrow Park. When we were kids on Saturday we used to go over to the races,” he explains. “It was something my brother and I always wanted to do, and ended up doing.”

The owner has enjoyed success with a number of horses, including 2007 sophomore trotting filly Grassroots champion Featured Image. He has no such expectations for Baylon De Vie, and is simply looking forward to watching the colt against his peers at Georgian Downs on Tuesday.

“Sometimes it’s the one that there are no expectations for that you have the most fun with,” he says. “Anything can happen in a horse race.”

The two-year-old trotting colts will battle for Grassroots honour in Races 2, 3, 4, 6, 10 and 11 at Georgian Downs on Tuesday evening, with the first seven novices lining up behind the starting gate at 7:25 p.m.

To view Tuesday's harness racing entries, click here.

(OSS)