Little Man has not enjoyed a great deal of luck in the Grassroots program this season, but that has not prevented Brian Lee from enjoying the experience of campaigning his first Ontario Sires Stakes starter
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"He’s the first horse I’ve ever had that was able to race in the OSS," said the resident of Woodstock, Ont. who will harness Little Man in the last regular season Grassroots event this Saturday evening at Western Fair Raceway. "And the other night was only the third time I have raced down at Mohawk, and we won."
Little Man heads into Saturday’s contest off an impressive victory in a non-winners of two races class at Mohawk Racetrack on October 5, where he paced home smartly to earn a one-length victory in a personal best 1:55.2. The son of No Pan Intended will take his fourth stab at the Grassroots program from Post 4 in Race 9.
In his July 7 Grassroots debut, Little Man delivered a third-place effort over Woodstock Raceway. He made a second start in the provincial program at Clinton Raceway on August 2, finishing seventh, then logged an eighth at Windsor Raceway on September 27.
"Hopefully he can do better," said Lee, who owns and trains the youngster.
"I know he’s got more than what he shows, but he’s lazy to train," the horseman added. "At Woodstock I went out to warm him up and he warmed up in 3:10."
The trainer admitted that he and his wife, Faith Lee, have lavished a little extra care onto Little Man since the gelding arrived in their barn in June. Lee says they have changed the gelding’s routines and honoured some of his quirky habits.
"He’s got an attitude," Lee admitted. "We cut back on his jogging and turn him out in the paddock every day. I think he was a little sour, so we’ve sweetened him up.
"I can’t give him enough to fill him up right now. If he’s got food left in his dish we know he’s sick," the horseman added. "I think he’s put on about 100 pounds since I bought him."
Lee said that the gelding is like a toddler and puts everything in his mouth, and like a toddler, the things he picks up are not always appropriate fare for eating.
"He likes everything in his mouth. He needs a pacifier," the trainer said with a chuckle. "He bites my wife’s hair, and he takes a little bit of the hair off every once in a while."
Little Man has accumulated one win, two seconds and two thirds for the Lees, banking $17,025 in the 10 starts he has made under their tutelage. The gelding will aim to pad that amount in the ninth race on Saturday, with Jody Jamieson steering him against a field of Grassroots regulars.
Jamieson will be at Western Fair Raceway on Saturday to steer Ladycino in the $189,000 Forest City Pace, which will head postward one race after Little Man’s Grassroots division.
First-race post time Saturday at the London, Ont. oval is 7:05 p.m., with the three-year-old pacing colts showing off their speed in Races 1, 4, 5, 8 and 9, and the aged pacing mares battling in Race 10.
Click here to view the Saturday harness racing entries at Western Fair.
(OSS)