Pacing colt Sports Column has turned heads with his early season performances. Those performances have prompted new ownership on the North American season's leader in advance of his next stakes event this Saturday.

The fastest two-year old pacing colt over a two-turn track in 2016 by virtue of his 1:52.1 score on July 4, Sports Column has been partially sold to Quebec's Daniel Plouffe. The colt was previously owned by Joe Thomson's Hutt Racing and trainer Blake MacIntosh, who both retain ownership.

"Daniel does a lot of research looking for two-year-olds, and I've done a lot of work for him but unfortunately we could never find the right one," Claude Brault, who acted as agent on Plouffe's behalf, told Trot Insider. "He's been looking at [Sports Column] the last couple of weeks. He called me and said 'Claude, could you look at this horse?'"

Brault noted that Plouffe is the kind of owner that does his homework in harness racing much like how he runs his primary business in the grocery industry. He has a meticulous approach: pores over replays, checks conformation, researches the trainer and keeps an eye on a horse's eligibility.

While not having a prior professional relationship with MacIntosh, Brault was well aware of the trainer and had a respect for his ability to assess and develop talent without obtaining yearlings on the high end of the price range.

"He's had a lot of success with those types of horses," noted Brault. Sports Column is a case in point, setting MacIntosh back $20,000 at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale in 2015 and banking $58,000 in just two starts.

After a series of phone calls, a price was set to obtain a piece and the deal was struck on Monday (July 11).

"He's more than excited to own a horse like him but more than that, he's excited to have a trainer like Blake," said Brault, who couldn't say enough about Sports Column as an individual with both presence and manners.

"I'm sure it will be a great partnership," MacIntosh told Trot Insider. "Joe is the best partner anyone could ask for and I have heard nothing but great things about Mr. Plouffe."

While the colt isn't eligible to the Metro or the Breeders Crown this year, there are possible stakes options for Sports Column outside the Ontario Sires Stakes. He is eligible to the Battle of Waterloo at Grand River Raceway and could step up to Grand Circuit competition as he's eligible to the Champlain at Mohawk Racetrack.

Sports Column (Sportswriter - Lady Leslie) has his next test on Saturday night at Mohawk in one of two $105,000 OSS Gold legs. He has Post 4 in Saturday's eighth race, listed at 3-5 on the morning line.