Dr. Ian Moore will make his first visit to Leamington Raceway this Sunday (Sept. 6), sending out two-year-old pacing colts Marlboro Seelster and Dietrich Seelster and three-year-old pacing colt Usurper in their respective $7,000 Prospect Series divisions.
“I grew up around those kind of tracks, that’s what I used to race on all my life. I enjoy going to the small tracks, quite frankly,” said Moore, a native of Prince Edward Island who now calls Cambridge, Ont., home. “We’ll give it a shot and hopefully have a good day.”
Two-year-old pacing colts will open the stakes action in the fifth race, with five colts squaring off for $7,000. Starting from post three, with Moore making his second start of the season in the driver’s seat, Marlboro Seelster will look to add to the eight points he earned with a fourth-place finish in the July 18 Prospect Series leg at Hiawatha Horse Park.
“He’s coming along a little better all the time,” said Moore of the Bettors Delight son he co-owns with Jeffrey and Michael Snyder. “He paced in 1:58 at Grand River on the half there, so hopefully he’ll get around Leamington.
“The other colt was good at Grand River on Monday (Aug. 31). I thought he was one of our better colts when we started the season. He went a good mile his first race (July 3), and then he kind of slipped backwards ever since,” said Moore of Dietrich Seelster. “He got to pulling and stuff like that, so I made a bunch of equipment changes and put an open bridle on him on Monday and went with him myself to see what was going on, and I think he’ll come along a little bit. He should be okay down there as well.”
Sally MacDonald and Paul MacDonald share ownership of State Treasurer colt Dietrich Seelster, who will be piloted from post three by Donnie Rankin Jr.
In the $7,100 three-year-old pacing colt division, Moore sends out Usurper, who was a winner in the Aug. 16 Prospect Series event at Rideau Carleton Raceway. Moore will steer the Sportswriter son from post six in the six-horse field, which goes as the eighth race.
“He’s got a bad post position, but he grew up at Charlottetown so he knows the half-mile track, he’s okay with that,” said Moore. “The poor little guy, he goes in 1:52-ish, around there, at Mohawk, and it’s just not good enough. And he keeps drawing bad; he drew the nine-hole last week (Aug. 27) and got a rough trip. It’s just tough for a horse like him; he needs to have some kind of trip to do any good at Mohawk.
“The Prospect Series to me is a good option if you’ve got one that can’t do in the Grassroots,” added Moore, whose pupils have propelled him to fourth spot in the Canadian trainer’s ranking this season. “If you’re getting tired of chasing them all the time, it gives you an option.”
The Next Generation Stable owns Usurper, who currently sits fourth in the Prospect Series standings. The top nine colts from the five regular season events will compete for $15,000 in the Sept. 25 final at Grand River Raceway.
Although on-track attendance is limited to 100 pre-registered spots, fans can follow all of Sunday’s action by downloading a program and watching the live stream on the Leamington Raceway website. The first race goes behind the gate at 1:30 p.m.
Prospect Series action continues at Leamington Raceway on Sept. 13 with the last leg for two-year-old trotting colts.
To view Sunday's complete entries, click the following link: Sunday Entries – Leamington Raceway.
(Ontario Sires Stakes)