Symon Pryjma will arrive at Sudbury Downs on Wednesday, Aug. 22 with a pair of two-year-old pacers whose early season Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots performances have forced the trainer to re-evaluate his winter-long opinion of the pair.
Throughout the winter, Pryjma was confident that Tendtowin would outshine stablemate Rude Boy once the Ontario Sires Stakes season got underway, but at the midpoint in the Grassroots campaign it is Rude Boy who sits tied for second in the standings with one win and two seconds, while Tendtowin has struggled to find the top five.
“I’m going to have to eat crow I guess,” says Pryjma ruefully. “Hopefully, in the long run I’ll be right. I really think the No Pan Intended colt [Tendtowin] will flourish as a three-year-old. He’s a little munchkin, but he’s so light on his feet.”
While Rude Boy stormed onto the Grassroots scene with a runner-up finish in the July 4 season opener at Flamboro Downs, followed that up with a 1:57.1 win in the July 21 event at Kawartha Downs and heads into Wednesday’s contest off a runner-up effort at Mohawk Racetrack on Aug. 13, Tendtowin has been struggling to even get into the fray.
“He’s scared of the gate. He can’t get away because he’s scared of the gate,” says the Phelpston, Ont. resident. “He’s scared of his own shadow.”
In an effort to help Tendtowin overcome his fears, Pryjma is heading to Georgian Downs on Saturday, Aug. 18 for extra practice behind the starting gate. The trainer would love to see what gelding could accomplish if he could reach the starting line at the same time as the rest of the field.
“Keith [Oliver] said he would have been right there at the wire, but he’s scared of the gate,” says Pryjma of the gelding’s Aug. 13 Grassroots outing at Mohawk that saw him finish sixth by three and three-quarter lengths.
The son of No Pan Intended and Garden Gate, bred and owned by Seaspray Stables Ltd. of Nanaimo, B.C., will make his sixth start from Post 1 in the second $24,000 Grassroots division, and while Pryjma is hopeful he is also realistic about the youngster’s chances.
“If he can get off the wings he could be top three,” says the horseman. “If he doesn’t get off the wings, I hate to say it, but he’ll be sixth, seventh or eighth.”
On the other hand the trainer fully expects Rude Boy to be battling all the way to the wire, bringing the aggression he shows in all aspects of his life to bear on the tenth race field.
“He’ll fight for the win,” says the trainer. “I’m not saying he’s going to win, but he’ll be fighting at the wire.
“He’s a true stud, he wants to prove he’s a stud. He’s destined for the scissors if we don’t sell him,” adds the trainer with a chuckle.
The son of Armbro Deuce and Real Queen, bred and owned by Michael Timpano of Phelpston, Ont., will make his bid for another Grassroots trophy from Post 3 in the last Grassroots division.
“Post position means so much and we drew really well. We got really lucky,” says the horseman. “When you are traveling that far it’s really nice to get a good post.”
Pryjma will begin the three hour trip to Sudbury on Wednesday afternoon and hopes that the trip home is buoyed by solid results from both of his freshman pacers.
Sudbury Downs fans will be treated to the high speed skills of this year’s two-year-old pacing colt crop in Races 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10. The half-mile oval’s first race rolls in behind the starting gate at 7:15 p.m.
To view Wednesday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Wednesday Entries - Sudbury Downs.
(OSS)