After searching fruitlessly for months, trainer John Drennan has acquired two young trotters in the last two months that have paid immediate dividends

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The Burlington resident and partners David Jeffs of Inglewood and Terry West of Burlington purchased two-year-old trotting colt Scotty Doesnt Know on July 17 and have cheered the youngster on to earnings of $63,380 through his first five starts. Then, on Aug. 28 the trio acquired three-year-old trotting colt Celebrity Hercules, and last Thursday the gelding posted a 1:56.2 Gold Elimination victory at Rideau Carleton Raceway.

"We were just in the right place at the right time," says Drennan. "We made the call at the right time and that kind of thing. Timing is everything."

Drennan admits he always has his eye peeled for quality trotters, and says Celebrity Hercules hit his radar through a series of starts the gelding made at Mohawk Racetrack in July and August. During a conversation with the trotter’s caretaker Chad Milner, Drennan wondered aloud if owners Celebrity Farms would be interested in selling the gelding. Milner indicated they might be open to the idea and passed on trainer Staffan Lind’s phone number.

Lind confirmed that the owners would consider selling the horse, so Drennan and his partners went to see Celebrity Hercules, had a vet examine the trotter and then signed on the dotted line to acquire the freshly gelded youngster.

"I called them before they cut him and they said, ‘We wanted to cut him,’ and I said go ahead," recalls Drennan. "They said he was a bit of a bad actor and didn’t seem to be trying on the racetrack."

Drennan and DDT Stable took ownership of Celebrity Hercules on Aug. 28, and started looking for a race for the youngster prior to the Sept. 17 Gold Elimination at Rideau Carleton. Celebrity Farms had staked the trotter extensively, so the new owners decided to try their hand in the Simcoe Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack on Sept. 5.

"He raced in the Simcoe, basically for the fact that he had to get a race, and if he raced in an overnight he’d have to race so tough," explains Drennan. "I said to the owners, we might as well race in the Simcoe. It cost us $2,000, but we got lucky and got some money and he got some work into him."

Celebrity Hercules finished fifth in his Simcoe division, touring the seven-eighths mile oval faster than he had in his previous outings. Heading into last week’s Gold Elimination at Rideau Carleton, Drennan opted not to train the colt in favour of altering his shoeing and the move paid off in a 1:56.2 personal best.

"I knew the track is so much different than here, so I had to change his shoeing and do a few little different things," notes the trainer. "I didn’t have a chance to train him, just hoped he could handle it, and he did."

Celebrity Hercules will make his third Gold Final start from the trailing Post 9 on Thursday, with Rick Zeron subbing for regular reinsman Trevor Ritchie in the race bike, and Drennan is optimistic about the gelding’s chances.

"That’s trailing, and it’s way better than the 8 or 7 hole," says the horseman. "Trevor (Ritchie) had to take Per Henriksen’s horse (elimination winner I Wont Dance) so we had to get Rick Zeron. Rick has driven every horse, everywhere, on every track. He’s sure not going to hurt us."

The gelding jumped into the top 10 point earners with last week’s elimination victory and Drennan is hoping he can snare a few more points on Thursday, so that the last Gold event is an optional excursion. Thursday’s outing will be Celebrity Hercules’s seventeenth start, and the trainer would love to have him fresh for the Nov. 14 Super Final.

Post time for Thursday’s program of harness racing is 6:30 pm, and Celebrity Hercules and his peers will square off for their fourth $130,000 Gold Final battle in the sixth race.

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(OSS)