The owners of the horses competing in the Ontario Sires Stakes program live across Canada and in many US states. There are even several Europeans with horses racing in the OSS, but there aren’t many with ownership downunder.
Kiwi Pres, who will make his second OSS appearance of the year at Hanover Raceway tomorrow night, is one of the few competitors with a Southern Hemisphere owner. Keith Gibson of Lower Hutt, New Zealand, owns the homebred three-year-old trotting colt trained by John Bax.
“He was looking for someone to train a few colts and Harold Howe recommended me,” Bax recalled. “I had a couple of three-year-olds for him which were sold and this guy.”
Kiwi Pres’ bloodlines reflect his ownership as well. His dam is Kristalvagen N who raced downunder and then was shipped to Canada in 2005 where she raced primarily on the WEG circuit before being retired to the broodmare ranks. Her sire is Sundon (or Sondon as he’s called in North America). That son of Arndon is widely acknowledged as the greatest trotting sire ever in the Southern Hemisphere and he stood at Gibson’s Roydon Lodge Stud.
Kiwi Pres’ sire is the Andover Hall son The Pres, the first foal of the great trotting mare Southwind Allaire who earned over $870,000 during her career. The Pres didn’t quite have the same talent as his mother but managed to earn $140,000 before being retired to stud. He stood one season in Ontario and Kiwi Pres is an offspring from that small crop.
“When I first got him he was very small, he looked almost like a yearling. He was just too immature last year so we shut him down early. He’s grown quite a bit this year,” said Bax. “I thought because of his size he’d like the half-mile tracks but he seems to step it up more on the larger tracks. He drew well at Hanover, he’s got the rail finally so we’ll see.”
Kiwi Pres notched his first lifetime victory last month at Kawartha Downs and was then fifth in the first Grassroots test for this group on June 26 at Mohawk where he was timed in 1:57.3. With Steve Byron in the bike again, Kiwi Pres will leave from post one in race six, one of a half dozen $18,000 OSS Grassroots events for three-year-old trotting colts at Hanover.
This is Hanover Raceway’s first OSS event of the 2014 season and celebrations will take place to mark the program’s 40th anniversary tomorrow evening so there will be lots of action on track and off.
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To view entries for Saturday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Saturday Entries – Hanover Raceway.