When you are looking at the big picture with a colt like Delcrest Julian, drawing the outside post in Saturday’s Gold final at Flamboro Downs is pretty small potatoes
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Last week’s Gold elimination win marked the big colt’s first appearance in the winner’s circle, and owner Terry Hunter is confident there will be many more chances to have his picture taken before Delcrest Julian hangs up his harness bag.
“A number of people have come up to me and said, 'that’s going to be one spectacular three-year-old if he keeps going,'” said the resident of Troy, Ont. “I think he’s going to be a real nice aged horse, too.
“He’s such a huge, massive colt, he’s just kind of growing in to his body,” Hunter added. “We really think he’s something special.”
Guelph, Ont. resident Anthony MacDonald piloted the son of Oaklea Julian and Stars Balance to an eight and one-half-length victory in last weekend’s Gold elim. The win boosted the colt’s freshman record to one win, one second and one third in nine starts for earnings of $42,000, a decent return on the $7,500 Hunter invested in the youngster at last fall’s Canadian Open Yearling Sale.
“It was just his size and the way he was put together,” Hunter said of the qualities that caught his eye at the sale. “His conformation is pretty spectacular. When we take him off the trailer he definitely catches attention.”
The first time Delcrest Julian stepped off the trailer at an Ontario Sires Stakes event was on July 12 at Mohawk Racetrack, where he proceeded to finish third in the first Gold elim of the season. Back at Mohawk on July 19, the long-legged youngster finished sixth in the season opening Gold final.
The second Gold Series event went postward at Grand River Raceway on July 28, but Delcrest Julian failed to advance out of the elimination round with his fourth-place result. A disappointing tenth place finish in an August 12 overnight event at Mohawk prompted trainer James MacDonald to send Delcrest Julian back to the qualifying ranks, and a break in an August 14 qualifier at Georgian Downs meant a second attempt was necessary, resulting in a 2:00.4 win at Mohawk on August 17.
Delcrest Julian made another break in the August 20 Gold elim at Rideau Carleton Raceway, but was lucky enough to draw into the final when one of the top finishers came up sick. The colt went on to redeem himself with a solid fifth-place result. The youngster’s next start came in the William Wellwood Memorial eliminations against some of the top freshman trotting colts in North American, and Delcrest Julian delivered his best effort to date, trotting around the Mohawk oval to a runner-up finish in 1:56.2. The colt could only manage a seventh-place finish in the $500,000 final of the Wellwood, but he was impressive in last weekend’s front-end performance.
“For such a big horse, on any size track he’s just fine,” Hunter said. “At Flamboro he just leaned into the turns.
“He’s trained on a half-mile track so he doesn’t know any different,” the owner added. “He doesn’t know that trotters are supposed to struggle on the turns.”
Last week’s elimination win bumped Delcrest Julian into fifth spot in the division standings, putting him in a solid position to earn a berth in the $300,000 Super Final with one regular season event remaining. The colt will be looking to add to his 75 points from Post 8 on Saturday.
The other elimination winner, Daylon Magician, will be hoping to round out his trophy collection with a win from Post 4 on Saturday. The son of Kadabra has already provided owner David Lemon with Grassroots and Gold elim trophies in his first five freshman outings.
While Delcrest Julian and Daylon Magician are looking for their first Gold final triumph, Buckhams Bay will be looking to recapture his winning form from Post 2. The son of Ken Warkentin was undefeated through the first two Gold Series events, but suffered a minor injury just before the August 20 Rideau Carleton event which kept him away from the races until last week.
The two-year-old trotting colts will square off in their $130,000 Gold final in the second race on Saturday, with the first race rolling in behind the Flamboro Downs starting gate at 1:00 p.m.
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(OSS)