26-The Canadien Champion, Friday, May 25, 2001 ,,Ridley's plate pop resurfacing Royal Ballad sons lead trotting colts in first Gold S cries Final Shayne Ridiey's reliabie plate pop is stating to show. The NMilton bail piayer now toiling with Baitimore's Class A affi i ate D el1m a rv a Shorebirds - has ifted is batting 1 average neariy 40 points in the past three weeks to a more respectable .250. U Over this Shayne stretch he hit safeiy in six of seven games and drove in key runs for Shorebird victo- ries. Before last night's game againsi 'Wiimington, Ridley had two dozen bits - inciuding three doubles - and 10 RBI. Splitting bis time between the designated bitter position and third base, he's committed jUst two erors thus far - which S represents a strong start l ~ ast year, when he piayed with S Baitimore's rook- se ieague e Ridley Biuefield Orioles. .Rained out a ga in s't iGreensboro both Monday and Tuesday, Deimarva sat at 22-23 before yesterday's game - which piaced them 11 games behind Kannapolîs in the South Atlantic League's Northem Division. By SANDRA SNYDER Special to The Champion Two Royal Ballad sons lead the three-year-oid trotting colts back to Mohawk Racetrack tonight for the first $100,000 Goid Series Final for their season. One is an Ontario Sires Stakes veteran whose owncrs already have a Gold Final trophy dispiayed on their mantel, while the other wili be making just his second star( in the provincial pro- gram. Both were easy winncrs in their Goid Eiiminations, clock- ing identical 1:57.3 times, and both are primed for the big money battie tonight. Bionic Bailad was a reguiar competitor in the Sires Stakes last season, eamning $129,017 for breeder Alana Toth of Sudbury and her partner Earl Lennox of Orton. In the elimination round the gciding took full advantage of an enror by favourite Banker Hall and cruised to an easy one-and-three-quarter iength victory. Tramner Budd Thomne of Fergus was not surprised by Bionic Bailad's triumph, having worked ail spring to have the trotter in peak condition for the Goid Series opener. "He qualified good in the two quaiifiers we had him in. He was pretty solid, pretty strong, 10 I tigured he could go out there that fast. He was ready for a mile like that," said Thomne, who speciai- izes in trotters. "Hes matured this year too. Last year when you were ieaving out off the gate he wouid be on the bit and sometimes it was hard to get him settied. The big difference I sec this year is that you can take him off the gate and settle him in somewhere." Thomne hopes Bionic Baiiad's new maturtty wiii aiiow driver Mike Saftic of Milton to settle the youngster in behind some of the eariy speed horses and make a move later in the race, adding that the other elimination winner - Royal Pocket - is a horse he would prefer to, foliow. "Royal Pocket looks pretty legitimate. I'd sooner have him in front of us, but it ail depends on who gets away from the gate and where they end up," said the tramner. "It wiil be a good race." Tony Nichois, who brcd and owns Royal Pocket, agreed with Thomes assessment and added that any one of the 10 starters could wind up in the winner's circle at the end of race seven. If Royal Pocket does deliver a win tonight it wiil be especially rewardtng to Nichois, who spent a great deal of time selecting the right match for his marc Out Of The Pocket before settling on Royal BaIlad. Once Royal Pocket arrived, Nichols watched him carefuily as a foal and then made the decision to end his two-year- old season before it got underway in order to give the leggy youth more time to grow and mature. "He's a big colt and were in no hurry with him, so we took him home and tumed him out," rccalled Nichols. "We started him up again in January and he's been good. He's a pretty sound horse and we've had very fcw problems with him. If we can keep hlm that way, we should do ail right." Royal Pocket wiil start from Post 3 in tonight's GoId Final, with regular reinsman Phil Hudon in race bike, while Bionic BalIad wili be back in the centre from Post 5. Sat. lune 2 Niagara Mat Halton at Nelson 3 pain. Sun. lune 10 Brampton at Halton ut Nelson 7 p.m. Sat. lune 16 London at Halton at Nelson 7 p.m. Sun. lune 24 Law. Park at Halton at Nelson 7 p.ns. Sat. Jly 7 Halton at Huronia Barrie Sports 7 p.sn. Sat. Jly 14 Halton at Hanmilton McMaster U. 5 p.m. Sat. luly 21 Halton at Brantford Gretzky C. 4 p.m. Sun. Jly 29 Halton at Mississauga Miss Valley 1 p.m. Midgets comprised of 17 to 19 year-old players 7Sat. lune 2 Essex at Halton at Nelson 7 p.m. Sun. lune 10 Hamilton at Halton at Nelson 3 p.m. Sat. lune 16 Brantford at Halton at Nelson 3 p.m. Sun. lune 24 Brampton at Halton at Nelson 3 p.m. Sat. luly 6 Haiton at Guelph Guelph Lake 7 p.m. Sat. Jly 14 Halton at Twin City Centennial 4 p.m. Sat. Jly 21 Halton at Wentworth Beverly Field 8 p.m. Sun. Jly 29 Haiton at Mississauga Miss Valley 4 p.m. Ban(ams comprised of 14 to 16 year-old players HALTON REGION PUBLIC INFORMATION CENTRE MUNICIPAL WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN TOWN 0F MILTON PR-1801 in recent ycars. Haison Region ha received a number of complainta from Miltons residents regarding discoloured water intise municipal water supply. The prixnary cause of tise water probtem wa identified to be thse increase of manganese concentration in tise Kelso groundwater. In order to ensure tise higis quality of municipal water to our customers in Milton, Halton Region bas retained tise services of a consultant to select a treatinent process to remove tise manganese ut tise weil head. fise pmoposed treatnent process wiII consist of cisiorination foltowed by filtration tlrough new propnictary catalytic media fiters. flhc implementation of tiis process wiIl require a procedure for disposing of wuste wasi-water produced during backWashing of tise proposed fitters. The exlstng Keiso Pwnping Station witl, tierefore, require expansion to bouse tise new filters and auxiliary equipesent. A Clans Environmental Assessment (Scisedule "B") is beng initiated to solicit public nput and support in the developesent of a preferred alternative and for tise design of tise new facilities t tise Kelso Pumping Station site. Haldton Regbos lu holdng a Public Information Centre an: Date: Wed.euday, May 30,2001 Time: 5:00 p.ua- 9:00 p.M. Location: Hugb Fater Hall (next door ta Town Hall), 43 Brown Street, Mlta. Inerested parties are invited to attend tbis Public Information Centre to review and comment on tise proposed plus. Ropreentutives fromn Halton Region and XCG Consultants Ltd. will be prespent to answer questions. If you are unuble to attend Iis Information Centre but wish to obtain more information or provide written comtienta, pieus contact. ensnsLeung. P.Eng. Manager. Eineeiig.Plwing HalteaRegion 1151trnte Rad, Oakville ON L6M 3L 1 Planning & Public Woetcu Tot: 905-825-6000 Ext. 7636, Fax: 905-847-2192 Tell-fmueTel; t-S66-4HALTON (l.-866-442-5a66) lt-mail: Susan Atlie, P.Eng. XCO ConslItanlts Lt. 2620 Bristol CWrde, Suite 300 Oulcville ON LIII 6Z7 Tel: 905829-8880, Ext. 232 Fax: 905-8298890 E-mail: aînaut.eut "The business that considers itself immune ti the necessity for advertisîng sooner or later finds itseif immune to business." Derby Brown Interested in Iearning "firsthand" the Town's planned activities for 2001 ? We invite you to REGISTER TODAY for the upcoming ... Mayor's Breakfast Sponsoreti by Milton Chamber of Commerce Friday, June 1, 2001 Lions Club Hall, Thompson Road Arena, Milton Registration: 7:45 a.m. 1 Breakfast Served: 8:15 a.m. Showcase Milton 2001 Off iciai Opening - 10:00 a.m. Special Guest: Mayor Gord Krantz Guest Speaker: Jennifer Reynolds, Dîrector of Community Services - Town of Milton Topic: Overview of Projects, Plans and Parks for 2001! COST: $1 0.00 / Chamber Member $1 2.00 I Non-Member (G.S.T. inciuded in prîces, Payment by VISA or Cheque> Pre Registration Required at Milton Chamber of Commerce To register caîl Bey Holloway (905) 878-0581 251 Main St. (across from Canada Trust) --Tire trouble does in local driver during CAS CAR 5s season start Piagued by tire trouble at Del-aware Speedway Park Sunday, Miltonian Rob Neelys CASCAR season opener didn't quite go according to plan. The local driver - who's* won three national races over an 1l -year career - dodged an initial buliet wben his crew spotted a fiat tire on his #97 Chrysler Intrepid after changing tires during pit stop number one. Couldn't escape second fiat Unfortunately, the problem resurfaced with iess than 40 laps remaining - requir- ing Neely to make an additionai stop and essentiaiiy take hiruseif out of top 10 con- tention. A fairiy respectable finish aiiowed him to place I 3th out three dozen drivers compet- ing in the 250-lap Mopar event. "We were consistent ail weekend," said Neely, who was as high as eighth at one point Sunday after starting in the i7th posi- tion. "I'm happy with the finish, but would have been happier with a top 10. We're running on iimited funds, so we're happy to leave Delaware without needing major repairs." Neeiy's CASCAR season continues tomorrow evening in Peterborough. Feel You Don't Have Control 0f Your Investment Portfolio? There ARE Alternatives to Mutual Fund Investing. Are You Ready To Learn? Cail: Rob Rubino 876-3466 &màR1C dflDOMINION en SECULRITIÉS mi.rubinoeriscinvestments.com