Ontario’s top three-year-old trotting colts and two-year-old pacing colts are heading for Dundas on Sunday evening as Flamboro Downs plays host to four $40,000 Gold Series Eliminations
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Leading the parade of gifted trotters onto the half-mile oval is Canadian Breeders Champion Hidden Message, who is currently riding a two-race win streak. The Kadabra son will make his bid for a third straight victory from Post 1 in the second race and Phil Silvestri is hoping the gelding makes a successful transition to half-mile racing.
“This will be a challenge for us because I don’t think we’ve raced him on a small track before,” notes the Hamilton, ON resident, who shares ownership of Hidden Message with his partners in Fintec Stables. “It’s a little tougher for these trotters because they go twice around.”
Hidden Message heads into Sunday’s test off wins in the elimination and final of the Canadian Breeders Championship at Mohawk Racetrack, where he used a sharp finishing kick to score three-quarter length victories in both races, clocking a personal best 1:54.2 in the July 24 final.
“He’s usually a finishing horse. He’s not a starting horse, he’s a finishing horse,” notes Silvestri. “We are very, very, very pleased with him. Speaking for the other partners, this (Canadian Breeders) was their biggest win.”
Through 12 sophomore starts Hidden Message has posted six wins, one second and one third for earnings of $182,512. The Emma Frieze trainee captured his elimination in the Gold Series season opener at Mohawk in May and finished third in the May 31 final, then recorded a second in his Gold Elimination and a fourth in the Gold Final at Georgian Downs in early July.
Regular reinsman Phil Hudon will steer Hidden Message from Post 1 in the first $40,000 Gold Elimination on Sunday, which may see the pair sent off as the favourite for the first time.
In the second trotting colt elimination, last year’s Grassroots Champion Scotty Doesnt Know will start from Post 1, but trainer John Drennan is pretty confident the gelding will not be among the fans’ top choices in the seven horse field.
“He had a whole lot of good luck last year, and he’s had a whole lot of bad luck this year,” says Drennan, who conditions the trotter for DDT Stable of Burlington, ON.
Fifth in his elimination in the first Gold event of the season and second in the consolation event at Mohawk, Scotty Doesnt Know then ran into health troubles that have caused him to make just one further start — a sixth-place result in the Gold Elimination at Georgian Downs on July 3. For the last two months Drennan has worked tirelessly to return the winner of $147,380 to good health and the Burlington, ON resident is hopeful the gelding is finally back on track.
“He qualified really good, touch wood, and we got the rail, so maybe things are turning around,” hopes Drennan, who qualified the gelding in 1:58.2 at Mohawk on July 30. “Maybe he’s had his share of bad luck.”
The top four finishers from each elimination will return to Flamboro Downs on Sunday, Aug. 15 for their third Gold Final, which will go postward as part of the track’s highly anticipated Confederation Cup program.
The two-year-old pacing colts will also be part of the Confederation Cup pre-show, with the top four colts from this Sunday’s eliminations earning a return ticket to Flamboro Downs’ marquee event.
Brantford, ON resident Lisa Langille would love to see Seven Grins advance out of the elimination round, after the youngster missed his first two stake finals due to a break in stride and an equipment failure.
The son of Grinfromeartoear-Magic Seven made his racing debut in an overnight event at Mohawk Racetrack on June 28 and turned in a steady 1:56.4 effort to finish fifth. However, in the Gold Series season opener at Mohawk 10 days later the novice pacer made an error heading for the three-quarters and finished well back of the field in seventh.
Back in overnight action at Mohawk on July 19, Seven Grins finished a closing second in 1:54.3, but one week later he experienced another hiccup when he broke a hopple in the elimination for the Battle of Waterloo at Grand River Raceway, forcing driver Mark MacDonald to pull up and losing any chance at a berth in the $300,000 final.
“It was pretty disappointing, but he redeemed himself somewhat in the consolation,” says Langille, who cheered the youngster on to a runner-up finish in the Aug. 2 consolation. “He did go a tough trip.”
In spite of his hard luck in elimination action, Seven Grins has surpassed the expectations Langille and her father Terry Langille of Brantford, ON had for the colt when they purchased him off online auction site ongait.com last October. Having never laid eyes on the colt, the Langille’s based their purchase decision on a video of the colt.
“He’s been a bit of a surprise. When we bought him we weren’t expecting much,” admits Langille. “And he’s turned out to be a pretty nice horse for us.
“He’s done everything right all along. He’s good mannered and he loves his job,” she adds.
Seven Grins will try and shake off his elimination round jinx from Post 2 in the sixth race on Sunday, facing a field of six contenders. The other freshman pacing colt elimination goes postward as Race 8.
Post time for Sunday’s program is 6 p.m., with the three-year-old trotting colts battling over the Flamboro Downs oval in Races 2 and 4, and the two-year-old pacing colts competing for a Gold Final berth in Races 6 and 8.
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To view Sunday’s entries, click here.