When Primary Purpose lines up from Post 8 in next Tuesday’s $130,000 Gold Final at Grand River Raceway, driver Mark MacDonald will be experiencing a frustrating sense of deja vu
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The three-year-old pacing colt has captured all four of his Gold eliminations this season, and then landed the eight-hole for three finals and the seven-hole for the other.
"I keep saying, ‘There’s no way it can happen again,’" says trainer Casie Coleman. "And it just keeps happening again.
"Last week there were the two and the eight left in the draw box, and he got the eight," adds the Cambridge resident. "I just feel bad for the horse and his owners; he should have a lot more money on his card. He’s won every Gold elimination, but he’s drawn the outside of the gate in all of the finals."
Coleman trains Primary Purpose for breeder Rod Therres of Surrey and Charles MacFarlane of Victoria, B.C. Therres broke and trained the gelding through an undefeated seven race freshman campaign, and then sent him to Coleman this spring to compete on the Ontario Sires Stakes circuit. Through 16 sophomore starts the son of Cammibest and Sing Mitzi For Me has tallied six wins, four seconds and one third, banking $205,650.
Therres has made the trek East on a number of occasions since Primary Purpose left his care, and was in the winner’s circle last week when the pacer lowered Grand River’s track record with his gate-to-wire 1:52.4 performance.
"This horse is pretty much like his kid," says Coleman, who has known Therres since she was a youngster growing up in B.C. "He’s been here a couple of times, and stayed at my house for a couple of weeks. He’s never really sent a horse away before."
Primary Purpose’s elimination victory was so impressive, and so effortless, Coleman says MacDonald prompted a brief flurry of excitement when he asked Therres if the gelding was eligible to the prestigious Little Brown Jug.
"Right after the race Mark asked Rod, ‘Is this horse paid into the Jug?’ Rod said, "No. Should he be?’ And Mark said, ‘He can fly over a half, he’d probably be pretty good over there,’" relates the trainer. "Rod asked me, ‘Can you supplement to the Jug?’ And I said, ‘No, but you can supplement to the Cane, and if you win the Cane, you can supplement to the Jug.’"
The buzz of excitement lasted until Therres and Coleman reached a computer and realised that entries for the Cane Pace were due last Wednesday, the day after the gelding’s Gold elimination win.
"We couldn’t do that, the horse was in the Gold final, but Rod was half thinking about it for a while," concludes Coleman.
Primary Purpose actually got his first half-mile test over Flamboro Downs in an elimination for the August 16 Confederation Cup, but rather than prompting the flight of fancy his Grand River track record engendered, that performance left Coleman with knots in her stomach for nine days.
"Mark thought for sure he would be second or third, and he even thought he had enough horse to win, but when he moved into the passing lane the horse rolled off," recalls Coleman, who had the vet check the gelding, and watched the video repeatedly trying to detect any interference from another horse or driver. "We really do not know to this day why he made the break. It kind of worried me all week."
Whatever the cause, there seemed to be no long term effects as Primary Purpose was flawless in last week’s elimination effort and Coleman says he is at the top of his game heading back to Grand River Raceway for Tuesday’s $130,000 Gold final.
"He came out of it real good. He’s sharp as a tack right now," she explains. "He’ll go a light trip tomorrow [Saturday] and then get ready for the race on Tuesday. We just need racing luck on our side coming out of the eight-hole on a half."
Primary Purpose and his peers will square off for their high speed battle in Grand River Raceway’s ninth race on Tuesday, with the program getting under way at 7:02 p.m.
To view Tuesday's harness racing entries, click here.
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