by Karen Briggs, WEG Media

Toronto, ON — Tracy Brainard pupil Oscar Oscar turned a lot of heads when he first arrived at Woodbine at the beginning of April, and even more when he trounced his competition by 6-1/2 lengths in the second leg of the Youthful Pacing Series on April 10. When the Western Terror colt came back a week later to handily capture the C$56,200 final of the Youthful Series, he attracted even more attention.

New Image Media photo

Oscar Oscar looks to continue his impressive 2009 campaign in the Ontario Sired Spring Series.

Now, Oscar Oscar is slated to tackle another stakes series at the Rexdale oval, and it’s no surprise he’s listed at 2-5 in the morning line (as part of a double entry with stablemate Power Off) as the C$20,000 first leg of the Ontario Sired Spring Series, for 3-year-old pacers, gets underway on Friday, April 24.

Two divisions, and a total of 14 horses, will go postward in the Ontario Sired Spring Series. Oscar Oscar will butt heads once again with Bob McIntosh trainee Its A Good Thing in the second of the two splits (race two, post time 7:50 p.m.), while in the first (race one, post time 7:30 pm.), Brainard has another hopeful by the name of Blue Suede Shoes.

This Grinfromeartoear colt struggled a bit in the Youthful Series, finishing fourth and sixth in his divisions, but with Jody Jamieson at the lines he may well find another gear.

Blue Suede Shoes, owned by the Bulletproof Enterprises, is part of a double entry in this division with Ala Carte Bill, who is trained by Wayne Preszcator; together they are rated at 5-2.

The second leg of the Ontario Sired Spring Series moves to harness racing’s summer home at Mohawk on Friday, May 1, with the C$57,000 (est.) final on May 8.

Diplomat Series features NA Cup hopefuls

With the C$1.5 million Pepsi North America Cup now just eight weeks away, racing fans can enjoy an early glimpse of seven Cup hopefuls in the Diplomat Pacing Series for 3-year-olds, which gets underway at Woodbine on Saturday, April 25.

The C$25,000 opening round of the Diplomat Series has attracted 15 colts in total in two divisions, carded as races two and four (post times 7:51 p.m. and 8:33 p.m.).

Veteran trainer Carl Jamieson has three NA Cup-eligible entries, two of whom, Captain Sir and Chief Of The Beach, have drawn into the second split, while the other, World Away, will leave from post five in the first split.

Casie Coleman has two NA Cup hopefuls in the Diplomat: the sizeable Stinger Blue Chip, in the first division, and recent BC import, Primary Purpose, who’ll be making his first start under Coleman’s tutelage in the second. Primary Purpose was unbeaten as a freshman, but he’ll be facing another caliber of competition here in the Big Smoke; nonetheless, of the seven, he has been assigned the shortest odds in Standardbred Canada’s NA Cup Spring Book at 50-1. Both will be piloted by Mark MacDonald.

The final two NA Cup eligibles hail from the shedrows of Murray Brethour and Joey Shea. Giddy Up Delight, the Shea entry, is a Bettor’s Delight son who went unraced at two, but has been out of the money only once in eight starts in 2009, while Brethour’s charge, Fire On The Water, is sired by Real Artist, and has one win under his belt in four starts this season.

The two entries assigned favorite status in the Diplomat divisions, however, are not among the NA Cup hopefuls. Both My Gift To You, leaving from post two in the first split, and Artists Rally, leaving from post eight in the second, are trained by Jeff Gillis, and both have been rated at 2-1 in their respective contests.

It should make for some exciting action on the final week of harness racing at Woodbine. The second leg of the Diplomat Series will be contested at Mohawk on Saturday, May 2.