Warrawee Needy captured nine of 12 starts as a freshman and capped off his season with Ontario Sires Stakes and Canadian honours, but the 2012 campaign has not been as smooth for the pacing colt.

The son of E Dees Cam found the winner’s circle in his tenth start, an overnight event at Mohawk Racetrack on September 1, then made it two in a row with a second overnight victory on September 15, and his owners are cautiously hoping he is poised for his first provincial win of the season in Saturday’s $130,000 Gold final at the Campbellville oval.

“We thought his last start in particular looked as if he was coming closer to what we hoped for as a three-year-old,” says Dr. Michael Wilson, who bred the winner of $658,825 and shares ownership of the colt with trainer Carl Jamieson of Rockwood, Ont., Thomas Kyron of Toronto, Ont. and Floyd Marshall of Jarvis, Ont. “We thought he was a little bit short the start before, but this last race he looked pretty good, and he wasn’t in against slouches either. There were some good horses in there.”

In his September 15 outing Warrawee Needy roared around the Mohawk oval on the front end, ringing up fractions of :26.3, :54.2 and 1:22.1 on his way to a two and three-quarter length victory in a personal best 1:49. One week earlier, the colt and regular reinsman Jody Jamieson also employed a front-end strategy to record a head victory in 1:49.1.

Prior to those two victories, Warrawee Needy had posted four seconds and one third in his first nine starts, with his best effort coming in the June 9 eliminations for the Pepsi North America Cup at Mohawk where he finished second to Sweet Lou in a 1:47.4 track-record mile. In Gold Series action, last year’s division winner finished second to current division leader Michaels Power in the elimination and final of the mid-summer Gold Series event at Mohawk and sixth in the August 26 Gold final at Rideau Carleton Raceway.

Warrawee Needy will start from Post 7 in Saturday’s test and faces a field of seven colts, all looking to capitalize on the absence of the dominant Michaels Power, who is testing his skills against North America’s best in the historic Little Brown Jug in Delaware, Ohio on September 20. With only eight entrants, the colts advanced directly to Saturday’s Gold final without need for an elimination last weekend.

Based on the pacer’s recent efforts, Wilson and his fellow owners are hoping Saturday is the day Warrawee Needy makes a return to the Ontario Sires Stakes stage.

“Hopefully he’s back,” says the Rockwood resident. “He looked good.”

In addition to the $130,000 sophomore pacing colt Gold final in the sixth race, Mohawk fans will be treated to a pair of Gold eliminations for the two-year-old pacing colts in Races 3 and 10.

After missing the bulk of the season to a slow-to-heal abscess, George Jettison will return to Gold Series action from Post 4 in the first $30,000 elimination and trainer Jack Darling is hoping the Jeremes Jet son is able to get back up to speed off a September 10 qualifier at Mohawk.

“I would have liked to have a start, but we’ll see what happens,” says the Cambridge, Ont. resident, who also owns the colt.

“There’s some good two-year-olds out there that have had a lot of starts. It will be pretty tough on him to get to that level this quick,” he continues. “We’ll see how he does.”

George Jettison started his career in the Gold Series, posting a fourth in an elimination of the season opener at Mohawk on June 29. Darling was satisfied with the young pacer’s 1:53.4 effort in that start, but felt the colt did not perform to his potential in a July 6 overnight that saw him finish second in a 1:54.2 mile.

“He raced 'okay,' but not like I thought he would, and the next day he had a temperature of 105 (degrees Fahrenheit),” Darling recalls. “That’s when the abscess showed up.”

While he recovered from the abscess, George Jettison was also hit by a bout of sickness, so he did not return to action until the September 10 qualifier that saw him post a three-quarter length victory in 1:55.4. Mike Saftic will steer the colt in his third lifetime start and Darling would be delighted if the pair posted a top five finish and secured a berth in the September 28 Gold final.

The other hopefuls in the first elimination include former Gold Final winner Mach Pride from Post 1 and reigning Gold final winner Windsong Jack from Post 8. The second split features the third colt with a Gold final trophy to his credit this season; Tarpon Hanover will start from the outside Post 9.

Mohawk Racetrack’s first race parades onto the oval at 7:10 p.m. Saturday. Ontario’s talented two-year-old pacing colts will wage their Gold elimination battles in Races 3 and 10 and the three-year-old pacing colts will square off for Gold final glory in Race 6.

To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at Mohawk, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Mohawk Racetrack.

(OSS)