The Super Aussie makes his second Grassroots start next Wednesday, Oct. 8 at Windsor Raceway - more than four months after Ontario Sires Stakes fans got their first glimpse of the three-year-old trotter - and this time trainer John Sullivan thinks the gelding is ready for battle.
"He's been racing super this last little while," says the Dresden resident. "I think he's got two wins, a second and a third in his last five starts."
Fans first saw The Super Aussie in the Grassroots season opener at Western Fair Raceway in late May. The gelding finished well back of the winners in seventh, so Sullivan decided to concentrate on overnight events, where the CR Renegade son picked up one second and one fourth-place cheque before running into a series of health problems that forced him to miss the month of July.
"He's had a few health issues, but we've cleaned that up and we're hoping for the best Wednesday," says Sullivan. "We've raced him easy hoping we could catch a couple (Grassroots) at the end of the season."
A third generation product of Chatham resident Wayne Parker's breeding program, The Super Aussie has accumulated three wins, two seconds and one third in 10 starts this season. The trotter will take his second run at the Grassroots program from Post 2 in the seventh race, and heads into the race off a third-place finish over the Windsor oval in overnight action on Sept. 30.
"He's just been a charm, right from day one he was nice to train and drive," says Sullivan. "The drivers I put up on him like him, because he's always trying."
Mark Williams will steer The Super Aussie in the last $20,000 Grassroots division on Wednesday, which also features four of the division's top 16 point earners. Abe Linkin will start from Post 3, Rapid Strategy gets Post 5, P L Broadway Joe will line up at Post 6 and Dillavec, owned by Richard Renwick of Merlin, Ronald Peltier of Pain Court, Brian Bartlett of Charing Cross and trainer Paul Walker of Owen Sound, will start from Post 7.
Sullivan would love to see the gelding deliver a strong effort against the Grassroots regulars, noting that it would mean a great deal to Parker.
"He's a retired police officer, he's 82 years old. It's something for him, to come down to the racetrack every day to see the horse go," says Sullivan. "He says it keeps him going."
The three-year-old trotting colts will wage their final regular season Grassroots battles in Races 3, 4, 6, and 7 on Windsor Raceway's Wednesday evening program. Post time for the first race is 7 p.m.
To view Wednesday's entries, click here.
(OSS)