With live harness racing at Northlands Park taking a brief hiatus, some horsemen in the province have been keeping their stock tight at the exhibition grounds in Olds, AB.
Horse Racing Alberta reports that Joe Ratchford is keeping a close eye on a two-year-old colt which was previously racing at Goshen, the Meadowlands Racetrack and Tioga Downs.
"His name is Rob Roy Bluechip," Ratchford recently told HRA. "He was an $80,000 buyback at the Harrisburg sale a year ago. His owners didn't think he was going to be stakes material at the Meadowlands, so I got a chance to buy him. He's had three lifetime starts, paced in :57 and is a son of The Panderosa. So I'm really pleased to have him.
"We got him qualified in two minutes on October 25 at Northlands and he paced the last quarter in :28.4. He'll race in the two-year-old stakes this fall starting with the President's Pace a week from Friday, November 14."
In addition to having some high hopes for some of his sophomores, trainer Rod Starkewski commented on Skip To My Mjjz, a five-year-old son of As Promised that has proved to be a consistent earner.
"I'm hoping that Skip To My Mjjz can continue to do well in the invite class. I've had him since he was a baby. He's now five and he's closing in on $270,000 in career earnings. His last start at Northlands he had to battle a pretty good breeze and he still paced in [1:]53.
"We've only got five weeks left in our season once we get back to Northlands, so there's a chance to make a few dollars before we're done for the winter."
(With files from HRA)