Ontario Sires Stakes excitement will pervade Clinton Raceway on Sunday afternoon as the half-mile oval will host six $24,000 Grassroots divisions for two-year-old trotting colts and will invite fans to enter the ‘Win The Thrill’
contest.
Among the colts hoping to earn a share of the provincial money up for grabs is Bell Spur, who finished third in a division of the Grassroots season opener at Hanover Raceway on July 9.
“We had a bunch of breakers, and he behaved and got third money out of it,” trainer Bud Sinclair said about the gelding’s debut. “There were two in there that we weren’t going to beat anyhow, but he did everything he was supposed to do. Hopefully he can do it again. We’re in with a couple of the winners from Hanover, so we just hope he behaves and some of the other ones don’t.”
Sinclair shares ownership of Bell Spur with Lindsay Sinclair and Eric McLeod of Stratford, Ont. and Thomas Strachan of Mitchell, Ont. The Pegasus Spur gelding is the first foal out of Shes A Bell, who earned $115,047 during a racing career which stretched from 2000 to 2007. Sinclair always liked the mare’s grit, so he and his partners opted to move her into the broodmare ranks, and the horseman says he was impressed with her first offspring right from the start.
“I’ve always been really high on him,” said the Stratford resident. “He’s always moved really nice and he’s a real natural trotter, so I’ve always really liked him. We still don’t know how fast he can go, we’re still just hoping for manners.
“The manners are the most important part right now, the speed will come."
While Bell Spur’s on-track manners have been impeccable thus far, Sinclair admits the same cannot be said of the gelding’s behaviour around the barn.
“He’s a jerk in the barn,” the trainer said, bluntly. “He got castrated really early because he used to like to strike you while you were walking down the shed row. He’s still — trying to get the harness on, the bandages on, even to get the harness off he’s a jerk — but on the track his manners are good.
“I guess that’s the way you want a trotter, if they’re going to be a jerk, it’s better in the barn than on the track,” he added, ruefully. “He’s a lot better at the racetrack when he gets away from home, but at home he really likes to test you.”
Bell Spur faces his second Grassroots test from Post 3 in the first $24,000 Grassroots division. Among the colts he will face in Race 1 are early season winner Northern Kingdom from Post 6 and a runner-up from the Hanover event, Hallucination, from Post 4. Stuart Sowerby will return to the gelding’s race bike for the second straight start, and Sinclair is hoping the resident of Guelph, Ont. can deliver the same sort of trip he engineered at Hanover.
“He drove him ideal for the first time,” said the horseman. “We just wanted a flat line, get as much as we could get, and not over extend him. He’s (Sowerby) a real underrated driver I think.”
Sinclair and his partners are hoping that Bell Spur carves out a regular niche for himself on the Grassroots circuit this summer, and would be delighted if the novice trotter could earn enough points to advance into the post season. The top 16 point earners will compete in a pair of Grassroots Semifinals, with the top four finishers from each earning a berth in the $100,000 Grassroots Championship at Mohawk Racetrack on October 1.
Seven Clinton area fans could also be attending the Grassroots Championships in an effort to claim the grand prize in the OSS program’s ‘Win The Thrill’ contest. During the ‘Win The Thrill’ race this Sunday, Clinton fans can place a ballot in the box of the horse they believe will win. One ballot will be selected from each box and that lucky race-goer gets a shot --- first at a Clinton Raceway betting voucher, and then on October 1 --- at one share in the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association’s New Owner Mentoring Program.
Along with eight other newcomers to standardbred ownership and veteran mentor Brian Webster of St. George Brant, the New Owners Group will select a yearling at this fall’s sale and then learn from Webster and trainer Tony O’Sullivan as the young horse is taught its early lessons and prepares for a racing career in 2012.
More information about the ‘Win The Thrill’ contest and the SBOA New Owners Mentoring program is available at ontariosiresstakes.com and standardbredbreeders.com. Ballots and details are available in the official Clinton Raceway program.
The two-year-old trotting colts will kick off Clinton Raceway’s Sunday afternoon program at 1:30 p.m. and will also show off their skills in Races 2, 5, 6, 9, and 10.
To view entries for Sunday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Sunday Entries - Clinton Raceway.
(OSS)