Kawartha Downs fans get a second look at the province’s two-year-old trotting colt crop as the Fraserville oval hosts seven $24,000 Grassroots divisions on Thursday
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Making the shortest trip to the racetrack for the 4 p.m. start time will be P C Striker, who makes his home across the road from Kawartha Downs in the Wayne Adams stable. P C Striker will make his third Grassroots start from Post 2 in the fourth division and Adams is hoping some early lessons over the five-eighths mile oval give the colt a slight hometown advantage.
“He’s had a lot of lessons at Kawartha Downs, so hopefully he’ll like it. There’s lots of stuff for them to look at at Kawartha,” says Adams, who conditions P C Striker for Don Bray of Newcastle, Angelo Dinardo of Toronto, Jack Sills of Orillia and Henry Tarniowy of Toronto.
P C Striker arrived in Adams’ barn last fall after Bray and his partners purchased the son of Striking Sahbra and Valuation out of the Canadian Yearling Sale for $16,000. The horseman says the youngster was easy to teach, and is an easy horse to have in the barn.
“He’s a really smart colt, good gait to him, really intelligent — that’s the best thing about him,” notes Adams. “He’s a pleasure to be around that’s for sure.”
After a pair of qualifiers — the first at Mohawk Racetrack on July 12 and the second at Kawartha Downs on July 16 — P C Striker made his Grassroots debut over the Clinton Raceway half-mile on July 24. The novice trotter delivered a steady effort from Post 6 to earn the fifth-place finisher’s share, and improved that to a fourth-place result in his second provincial appearance at Grand River Raceway on Aug. 3.
On Thursday P C Striker will get the services of recently crowned World Driving Champion Jody Jamieson and Adams is hoping the leading reinsman can coax a little more finishing speed out of the colt.
“Having the World Driving Champion, hopefully that will help too,” says the Cobourg resident. “It would be nicer if he could trot home a little stronger. Hopefully he’s getting better at that — as he gets a little more racy.”
Among the colts Jamieson and P C Striker face in the fourth race are five veterans of the Grassroots Series — including former division winner Gus Is All Lane from Post 6 — and two newcomers to the program.
Adams would like to see P C Striker continue to improve through the remainder of his freshman season, but expects the muscular youngster’s best years of racing are ahead of him.
“Hopefully he stays sound and we can get a few starts into him, he should mature into a nice three-year-old,” says the horseman. “He’s a nice sensible colt and he seems to be a real good doer. He’s very relaxed, easy on himself, likes to sleep all afternoon.”
P C Striker’s afternoon nap will be interrupted by the 4 p.m. start time at Kawartha Downs on Thursday, as he and his two-year-old trotting colt peers compete for Grassroots glory in the first seven races.
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To view entries for Thursday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Thursday Entries – Kawartha Downs.