When Brenda Spence arrives at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Sunday evening with trotter Trinity Cameron, the Orleans resident is hoping the three-year-old gelding
will amble off the trailer in a mellow mood.
For the first four months of his career, heading to the racetrack sent Trinity Cameron into sensory overload, but since late May the youngster seems to have found his groove. The improvement has been marked enough to convince Spence and owner Denis Simard of Saint-Pascal-Baylon that Trinity Cameron deserved a shot at Ontario’s top colts in Sunday’s $24,000 Grassroots skirmish.
“At the farm he was always very level headed and calm, but when we took him to the track he was overwhelmed,” explains Spence. “He got wound up and carried away.”
Trinity Cameron qualified for the first time on February 5, but maintaining his composure when it came to race night was an ongoing struggle. He would qualify successfully and then make a break in a race, sending him back to the qualifying ranks. Between February 9 and May 28 the gelding had qualified 12 times and raced just four times.
In an attempt to soothe the anxious youngster, Spence tinkered with his equipment and finally came up with a combination that seems to provide the gelding with an adequate buffer from the sights and sounds assaulting his nervous system.
“He wears a hood with cups, and ear plugs, and he seems to like that, he’s more manageable,” says Spence. “He’s learning how to relax nicely now.”
Since Spence hit on the hood and ear plug combination, Trinity Cameron has executed two flat qualifiers and three solid races, posting his first lifetime victory on June 19 with a 2:02.1 effort. Spence says that, even when he was struggling, the gelding was ready to give his all in each outing, a trait she says horses sired by Potato Race all seem to share.
“They all like their work, they all like to be on the track, they like to train,” she explains. “They try, and they are honest.”
Trinity Cameron will try his hand against Ontario’s best in the first race on Sunday, starting from Post 4 with regular reinsman Mitch Sahely in the bike. Spence was pleased with the draw and hopes the gelding can deliver a creditable performance over his local oval.
“That is a good position. The inside is a little hard on trotters that are excitable,” notes the trainer. ”He’ll follow that car right out of there; it takes off and he’ll be chasing it.”
A solid effort on Sunday could see Trinity Cameron chasing the Grassroots circuit for the remainder of the season. The three-year-old trotting colts have four events remaining on their schedule after Rideau Carleton, with the top 16 point earners from the regular season advancing to the October 25 Semi-final back at the Ottawa oval. The top eight finishers from the Semi-final round will compete in the $100,000 Grassroots Championship, which Rideau Carleton Raceway will host on November 1.
Among the colts that will present a challenge to Sahely and Trinity Cameron in the first race are Anahar Buster and Berndt Energy, both winners in the Grassroots season opener at Western Fair Raceway on June 12, who will start from Posts 2 and 7 respectively.
The colts kick off Rideau Carleton Raceway’s Sunday evening program at 6:30 p.m., with the other Grassroots divisions featured in Races 4, 6, 8 and 11.
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To view Sunday’s harness racing entries, click here.