Andy Baran was one half of a pair of siblings that Melvin Willis purchased six months ago, and heading into the last regular season event on the three-year-old pacing colt Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots calendar, the Cambridge, Ont. resident figures he got a pretty good deal

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“I’m satisfied. I didn’t pay that much for him, and I’ve got my money back and had a lot of fun,” said Willis. “My wife and I have been all over hell’s half acre with him.”

And the couple’s travels will not stop with their visit to Dundas on Saturday.

Through his first four Grassroots starts Andy Baran has delivered one win and two seconds for a total of 100 points and a share of seventh spot in the division standings. The top 16 point earners following Saturday’s regular season finale will make their way to Western Fair Raceway on Oct. 16 for a pair of $30,000 Grassroots Semifinals, with the first four finishers from each Semifinal earning a return trip to the London oval for the $100,000 Grassroots Championship on Oct. 23.

“The next one is the tough one,” remarked Willis. “I don’t know if I’m good enough. There are a lot better horses; I consider them better horses, in there.”

Trainer Paul Mackenzie will steer Andy Baran from Post 4 in the second $24,000 Grassroots division on Saturday, and Willis is hopeful that the colt can find his way into the top five for a fourth time.

“I’m in a fairly soft division I think,” said the longtime horseman. “And he’s in great shape, he’s really feeling good.

“Paul’s done a great job for us,” he adds. “I’ve known him for a long time, and he does a great job.”

Puslinch, Ont. resident Mackenzie also handles training duties on Andy Baran’s elder sister Zegerid Lady, a Grassroots Semifinalist at both two and three. Between the siblings they have earned the Willis’s just over $50,000 since mid-April. While Willis says Zegerid Lady will be looking for a new home at the end of the season, he intends to keep Andy Baran and race the gelding as a four-year-old.

“I think maybe if he can draw good cheques to the end of the series I’ll just quit with him for a couple of months and bring him back,” said Willis. “I don’t need the money, so why race the heck out of them.”

Rambaran son Andy Baran will make his 17th start for Willis, and his 26th of the season in Saturday’s fourth race. Among the rivals he and Mackenzie will face are three other currently ranked among the top 16 — Royal Artist from Post 1, Little Gold Ring from Post 5 and Good Bad Lucky from the outside Post 8.

The other three Grassroots divisions are slated as Races 2, 7, and 11 on Saturday’s program, with the first race parading in front of the Flamboro Downs fans at 1 p.m.

To view Saturday's entries, click here.

(OSS)