When fans arrive at Hanover Raceway on Saturday evening, locating Dream Of Glory Champion Krakatoa will be a breeze - the three-year-old trotting colt will be lined up on the starting gate in the same spot he has been
for the last two weeks, behind the number two.
Krakatoa’s ownership of Post 2 started with his July 24 Dream Of Glory Elimination. With Walkerton, ON native Randy Fritz in the race bike the colt delivered a strong 1:59.2 effort over an off track to reach the finish line two and three-quarter lengths ahead of his peers. One week later Krakatoa and Fritz were back in Hanover, and back at Post 2, for the $100,000 Final. Sent off as the fan favourite, the colt simply dominated the field of three-year-olds, reaching the wire 5-1/4 lengths on top in 1:59.1.
On Saturday Krakatoa and Fritz will be looking for another strong effort from their favourite post in the seventh of eight $24,000 Grassroots divisions, part of a $224,200 All Trot card that also features the Walker Memorial Invitational in Race 10.
“He’s been good up there the last couple times,” says Gregg McNair, who conditions Krakatoa for owner-breeder Bloomingwood Farms Ltd. of Harriston, ON. “The post really makes more of a difference there on the half-mile track.”
Krakatoa started his sophomore season at the Gold Series level, but suffered interference in his May 23 Gold Elimination and made a break. The son of Amigo Hall and Pretty Muscles picked up cheques against some Gold Series competitors in May 31 and June 10 overnights at Mohawk Racetrack, but McNair decided his future lay in the Grassroots program and Krakatoa proved his trainer right with a runner-up finish in the June 26 event at Kawartha Downs.
In his second Grassroots start, on July 11 at Rideau Carleton Raceway, Krakatoa overpowered the field at the three-quarters and stormed home to a three and three-quarter length victory in 1:58. With a total of 75 points, the colt currently sits in a four-way tie for sixth in the Grassroots standings and his connections would like to see him add to that tally on Saturday.
“He doesn’t have quite enough speed to go with the Gold’s, but he’s still a nice horse,” says McNair, who grew up in Walkerton, but now makes his home in Guelph, ON. “He made the Grassroots Final last year.”
Through the colt’s 10-race freshman season McNair tinkered extensively with Krakatoa’s equipment. The youngster started off the season without trotting hopples, but after five starts McNair decided to try them and was never tempted to take them off after the colt went out and scored two straight Grassroots victories, securing a berth in the post season where he won his Semifinal and finished fifth in the Championship. This year the colt spent the winter hopple-free, but as qualifying time approached McNair decided a return to hopple wearing was in order.
“If you look at his lines last year, I raced him quite a few times with no hopples, but he got making breaks, so I finally had to put the hopples on,” recalls the horseman. “I guess he’s made a couple breaks with them on too, but not as many as he was making before.
“It works good on him. It doesn’t work on them all, but it seems to help him,” McNair adds.
Although Krakatoa is not the most successful horse in McNair’s string, which currently numbers around 35 head, the colt is one of the most popular. McNair says the youngster is a good looking, good feeling horse that does not require a lot of special attention between races.
“We like him,” says McNair, simply. “He’s a nice horse.”
Among the sophomore trotting colts Krakatoa faces in Saturday’s eighth race are two of the others currently ranked sixth in the Grassroots standings. Tymal Time will start beside Krakatoa at Post 3 while Rehab Mountain gets Post 6.
The three-year-old trotting colts will wage their Grassroots battles in Race 2 through 9 on Saturday evening, with the first race of Hanover Raceway’s All Trot card rolling in behind the starting gate at 7:15 p.m.
(O.S.S.)
To view Saturday’s entries, click here.