Brusiers Brother has picked up a cheque in all of his stakes eliminations this summer, then floundered in the finals, so trainer Louie Eftimiadis changed his strategy
and entered the two-year-old pacing colt in Saturday’s Grassroots event at Sudbury Downs.
“I’m putting him in there because he didn’t really race that good in the Battle of Waterloo,” explains Eftimiadis. “That was very disappointing, especially with the post that he got.”
Brusiers Brother finished second in his July 27 elimination for the Battle of Waterloo at Grand River Raceway, drew the advantageous Post 1 for the $320,000 final, and finished a distant seventh. The Battle of Waterloo result was a reprisal of the colt’s effort in the season opening Gold Series at Mohawk Racetrack, where he finished third in his July 12 elimination, drew Post 2 for the $130,000 Gold Final, and made a break around the final turn to finish ninth.
“He’s well-gaited, but he doesn’t quite know how to go real quick, real fast — how to get into that next gear, especially on turns. He’s not sure of himself yet,” notes the Newmarket resident.
Bred and owned by Gerald Mijal of Westland, MI, the colt is a full brother to Believeinbruiser, who earned $249,654 in his racing career, $148,961 of it in the Ontario Sires Stakes program as a two-year-old.
“His brother was way more mature mentally at this time,” says Eftimiadis, who also trained Believeinbruiser. “This colt is much more playful; much, much greener. His brother was all business at this stage.”
Mijal and his staff taught Brusiers Brother his early lessons in Michigan, shipping him to Eftimiadis at the end of June with high hopes for the freshman campaign. Through five starts the son of Mach Three-Believeinyourdream has posted one second and one third for earnings of $13,410, and has thus far been outperformed by stablemate Adrenaline, who won his Battle of Waterloo elimination and captured a Gold Elimination at Flamboro Downs on Aug. 9.
“They had very high hopes for him. They thought that this guy was better than the Adrenaline colt, but the Adrenaline colt is ahead of him,” notes Eftimiadis. “This colt is athletic, like his brother, but green. I think he’ll get better. I don’t think his performance in the Battle of Waterloo was a true indication of him, but you never know.”
Brusiers Brother will try to give his trainer a better indication of his ability from Post 6 in the second of three $24,000 Grassroots divisions on Saturday night. Aaron Byron will steer the youngster, facing off against a tough field that includes Battle of Waterloo Consolation winner Raging Grin from Post 1 and former Gold Series competitor Lyons Frank from Post 4.
“I wish it wasn’t the six post, and I wish it wasn’t the field that it is,” says the horseman. “It’s actually pretty snug.”
In addition to a share in the Grassroots purse, all eight colts will be in pursuit of a few points to add to their tally. The top 16 point earners at the conclusion of the six event regular season will compete in a pair of Grassroots Semifinals at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Oct. 23, with the top four finishers from each semifinal advancing to the $100,000 Grassroots Championship on Nov. 1.
The freshman pacing colts will battle in Races 3, 5 and 7 on Sudbury Downs’ Saturday evening program. The first race rolls in behind the starting gate at 7:15 p.m.
(OSS)
To view Saturday’s harness racing entries, click here.