Noted trainer Dustin Jones had two starters entered this weekend in Ontario Sires Stakes on Saturday and Sunday at Georgian Downs. One colt he’s known from birth, the other he just met this week.
The Sherbrooke, Quebec, native who now resides in Waterdown, Ont., will know more about their racing potential after the two perform in the first OSS Gold and Grassroots events for two-year-old trotting colts on Saturday and Sunday at the Innisfil, Ont. track.
First up are the Grassroots rookies on Saturday night where they’ll contest five $18,000 divisions in Races 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7. Jones’ starter, The Great Bambino, will start from Post 3 in the sixth race with Jones himself at the lines.
“I’ve only had him for five days, so I can’t tell you much. They told me to make sure his hopples are tight, so hopefully I’ll get that right,” laughed Jones of the Deweycheatumnhowe colt who was sent to him by U.S. based trainer Dan Daley. The Great Bambino will be making his racing debut in Saturday’s contest.
“He’s owned by Sam and Mike Sergi (of New York), I’ve known them for a long time and I drove for Sam in Quebec for many years,” noted Jones, who moved his racing operation to Ontario several years ago.
Jones is far more familiar with his starter in the Gold event the following evening at Georgian, where the youngsters will square off in a trio of $70,000 divisions in Races 1, 3 and 6. Jones’ homebred colt is Dont Rush, a son of former European star Infinitif, who will start from Post 2 in the second division.
“Jean Pierre Dubois (the highly regarded French horseman who raced Infinitif) is a good friend of mine. A couple of years ago we were sitting together on a bale of hay waiting to race our fillies in the Hambletonian Oaks. I had Martiniontherocks and he had Crys Dream. He offered me breedings to any one of his three stallions and I went with Infinitif,” Jones explains.
“I got this colt and a filly called Take Action who I’ll be racing in the first Grassroots event for fillies (on July 15 at Mohawk). They were both raised at Jeff Ruch’s place and I liked them so much I would have bred right back to the horse but he wasn’t standing in Ontario any more.”
The colt’s dam is the unraced Muscles Yankee daughter Color Me Pretty. “My brother (Michael) raced her dam, and she helped him buy his house. This colt is the best one she’s had,” noted Jones.
Dont Rush trained down very well for Jones who keeps a close eye on him off the track as well as on. “He likes to bite and if you walk behind him, he’ll kick you. You just need to be careful. He’s not mean, just playful. But he’s perfect on the racetrack so I’ll put up with it,” he explained.
Dont Rush made his first lifetime start in a qualifier at Mohawk Racetrack on June 27 where he finished second by a neck. When he didn’t draw into race at Mohawk the next week, Jones entered him at Georgian on July 5 where he finished second timed in 2:01.2. “He raced really well, enough for me to put him in the Gold.”
Jones has a history of conditioning top trotters, including former Canadian Horse of the Year Emilie Cas El (dam of this year’s outstanding trotter Trixton), Uhadadream, Wheeling N Dealin and Prestidigitator. This year he also has a top pacer in the stable in the form of Nat A Virgin, a filly he owns with fellow breeder Lynn Jones. She’s won $117,000 in just five starts this year at three and was second in her most recent test, the $457,000 Fan Hanover final.
To date Jones has had three starters in the prestigious Hambletonian. Next year Dont Rush could be his fourth. “I’ve kept him eligible. I’ve raced a Quebec-bred in it before with Uhadadream. You have to be a dreamer in this business and you can’t be in it unless you’re eligible.”
For the time being, though, Jones will concentrate on the Ontario Sires Stakes with his homebred.
To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at Georgian, click the following link: Saturday Entries – Georgian Downs.
To view the harness racing entries for Sunday at Georgian, click the following link: Sunday Entries – Georgian Downs.
(OSS)