by Kim French, USTA Internet News Editor

Kim French

Columbus, OH — He came home a respectable fourth in the newly created $561,500 Pennsylvania Classic final on Saturday (May 7) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, but Carl Jamieson is not exactly singing The Catamount Kid’s praises. In his opinion, the 3-year-old son of Well Said continues to have much to prove and he hopes the colt’s performance in the first of three $30,000 divisions of the Pennsylvania All-Stars on Sunday (May 15) at Pocono will illustrate why this horse should be respected as a player in his division.

“Honestly, I thought he raced better the week before (a second in his $25,000 elimination, a neck behind JK Will Power),” said Jamieson, who conditions and co-owns The Catamount Kid. “I’m not sure what the time was (1:51.1) but he finished like he should.

“Last week he had a good trip and with that passing lane at Pocono being what it is he should have kicked into a gear. I thought he was flat. He was racing against some nice horses but I still thought that was a poor effort from him. We will see what he does this week as this race should be a bit of class relief and he drew well.”

New Image Media photo

The Catamount Kid has banked $156,746 in 12 career starts.

Out of the Life Sign mare Under Your Spell, The Catamount Kid, a $67,000 yearling purchase, will commence his journey over the surface at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono from the second post position in the evening’s sixth race. Co-owned by Thomas Kyron, George Harrison and Brian Paquet, along with Jamieson, the colt will be steered by Simon Allard and is the 5-2 morning line selection in the field of nine.

Although The Catamount Kid has yet to stand in the winner’s circle in 2016 he has hit the board on two occasions from five pari-mutuel appearances and his purse earnings of $57,915 are more than double his closest competitor (Yankee Artillery, $25,080).

“The (second) start of his career was at Pocono,” Jamieson said. “He should have won that race, but was fourth and then placed seventh. He encountered some trouble when he was following the (second) favorite who stopped in front of him.

“We always thought highly of him and thought he would be a nice horse. He qualified very well at Mohawk at two, then won a Pennsylvania Sire Stake, a division of the Nassagaweya and was second in his Metro Pace elimination. He was a good fourth in the final and then was eighth in the Champlain. We found out a sesamoid was bothering him and that was the reason we did not keep him eligible to the Breeders Crown. We figured there was no sense in rushing him, so gave him the time he needed to focus on this year.”

As a freshman, The Catamount Kid, who is a half-sibling to Load The Dice (Cam’s Card Shark, $853,290), Cardmaster (Cam’s Card Shark, $227,919), Weekend Gambler (Cam’s Card Shark, $389,408), Discoverer (Four Starzzz Shark, $167,505) and Normandy Invasion (Somebeachsomewhere, $139,456) contested seven events with two triumphs and two seconds. The colt earned $98,831 and took a mark of 1:52.1s.

His dam collected $465,876 and won a division of the Adioo Volo and the Matron Stakes final in 1999. She was also fourth in the American-National and the Breeders Crown final that year.

The Catamount Kid’s granddam, Nukes Magic, banked $270,305 in her days on the racetrack. The daughter of No Nukes was just as consistent in the breeding shed and gave birth to three horses that eclipsed the $100,000 mark from 12 foals. Only two of her offspring failed to make it to the races.

“One of the reasons we bought him was definitely because of his family,” Jamieson said. “We really liked that and he was a very well conformed horse. He hit all of our check boxes. I also like to buy horses that are first or second generation outcrosses. I had a filly the year before that was exactly the same type of cross and she did well for me so I thought this colt was one we should take home. I just don’t think we have him all figured out at this point, because I thought he would come back better this year than he has.”

The Catamount Kid has Jamieson scratching his head, but his performances have not swayed the Canadian Hall of Famer from heavily supporting his charge through stakes payments.

“Even though I thought his last race was disappointing I still paid $20,000 to keep him eligible to the North America Cup,” he said. “You can’t play if you don’t play. He is in the position to be in every big race all year long. For example, he can go in a lot of stuff here in Ontario because it is close to home, the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, the Somebeachsomewhere, the Meadowlands Pace, the Messenger, the Bluegrass and the other stakes in Kentucky and the Breeders Crown.

“I don’t know what Simon (Allard) will end up doing with him this week. I can’t tell him what to do because it depends on how the race unfolds and I know we have some things to iron out with him. He’s not at 100 percent currently because he keeps getting on that left line, but we will find out what it is that is bothering him. Then it’s up to him to prove he belongs with other nice horses. We think he will, but it just might take some time. He will show us what the future will bring for his career.”