After having assembled a solid freshman campaign which included $244,716 in purses, four wins and nine on-the-board finishes from 10 starts, Zorgwijk Kingpin is on the cusp of recording his first charted mile
of the season - a mile which would've come weeks earlier in a perfect world.
During last Thursday's qualifying session at Mohawk Racetrack, Greg Blanchard of the Woodbine Entertainment Group caught up with Zorgwijk Kingpin's co-owning trainer, Ronnie Maclean, as he readied the standout Southwind Lustre gelding for a schooler.
"He had come back pretty well, but then he got sick on us and his blood got all out of whack. We basically lost three weeks to a month with him. We finally got some positive results with the last profile we did with him," explained Maclean, who co-owns the chestnut gelding with Murray Neilson, Scot Wood and Joseph Serratore of London, Ont.
"I trained him the other day (Tuesday, May 25) in (2:) 13 and came a half (his final half mile) in a minute. He felt like his old self, so I called Trevor (driver Trevor Ritchie) yesterday and we're going to school him today and see how everything goes along. If everything goes right, we'll qualify him next week. We're aiming him for the Goodtimes (elimination June 19 at Mohawk)."
In terms of changes from ages two to three, Maclean explained that the gelding has filled in somewhat.
"He maybe got a little bit taller. He was always a tall, lanky colt last year. I noticed that he has filled out a lot more in his rear end, which he needed to do. Last year he might have been a little bit narrow. He's filled out and gotten a lot stronger. It was tough to tell on him the last month when he was battling the sickness, but when he came back on Tuesday he had the wide gait to him and he was flawless."
As with any horse, especially a trotter, patience is a virtue -- something which Maclean is well aware of.
"We don't want to push him because we still have three weeks to get him ready, yet," he explained. "Trevor knows what's best. Trevor knows him pretty well from last year. If he feels good and comes out of it (the Thursday schooler) okay then he'll be back here next week to qualify."
It appears as though Zorgwijk Kingpin schooled in good order, as he has been entered to qualify tomorrow (Friday, June 4) at Mohawk. He has drawn Post 5 in the last dash on the card (Race 5).
To view the entries for the Mohawk qualifying session, click here.