Ontario's remarkably gifted three-year-old pacing colts make their final regular season appearance in a $180,000 Gold final at Windsor Raceway on Tuesday evening.
With only seven horses declaring into the regular season finale, an elimination was not necessary and all seven colts advanced directly to Tuesday's lucrative final. Roman Rocks makes just his second foray into the Gold Series in the rich event, and Amherstburg resident Mike Novick is hoping the No Pan Intended son can improve on the seventh-place result he earned in the August 10 Gold final at Mohawk Racetrack.
"He's been a little inconsistent this year," says Novick, who trains the colt for Ken and Patricia Taylor of Amherstburg. "He's always had steering problems, right from when I broke him. He gets on one line, and that seems to hamper him a little bit. I think it's been the main cause of his inconsistency.
"It's very frustrating, very frustrating, because the horse has a lot of ability."
Novick has consulted veterinarians all over Ontario in an effort to solve the colt's steering issues, but no one has been able to put their finger on the cause of the problem. In spite of his steering glitch, Roman Rocks has amassed a record of one win and two seconds in 11 starts this season, racing against one of the most talented groups of colts to grace the three-year-old pacing colt ranks in recent memory.
"This is a tough year. It's rare that you get that many good ones in one year," notes the trainer. "It's nice to even try to compete with those horses. This is where you want to be racing when you're buying them at the yearling sales."
Although Ontario-sired wunderkind Somebeachsomewhere is absent from Tuesday's field, Novick knows last year's division champion Deuce Seelster, and this season's top two colts, Keystone Horatio and The Mohegan Pan, will all be aiming for the Windsor Raceway winner's circle.
Regular reinsman Rick Zeron will steer Roman Rocks from Post 1 in Tuesday's seventh race, while Deuce Seelster gets Post 2, reigning Gold final champion The Mohegan Pan defends his title from Post 5, and Keystone Horatio starts from Post 6. Roman Rocks heads into the $180,000 battle off a second-place finish in an October 18 overnight at Woodbine Racetrack where he sprinted home in :27.3 to finish just a neck short of his second sophomore victory.
Novick would be delighted if Roman Rocks could deliver another strong effort and earn a share of the provincial purse on offer at his local oval.
"It's nice to have something going in a big race at your home place," says the trainer. "Hopefully he'll be better."
The gifted three-year-old pacing colts square off in the seventh race on Windsor Raceway's Tuesday evening program, with the first race rolling in behind the starting gate at 7:00 p.m.
To view the entries, click here.
(OSS)