Minutes after keeping Beau Jangles perfect both through 10 career starts and all six of his Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) events, driver Bob McClure stood in the paddock dripping mud and contemplating the karma of how he arrived here with this superstar 2-year-old pacing colt, who dominated his C$300,000 OSS Gold Super Final on Friday (Oct. 10) in a downpour.
Just when he decided to stop traveling to be home more for his kids, Beau Jangles landed in his lap precisely because another driver, Louis-Philippe Roy, was away racing horses at the Meadowlands. Roy was originally trainer Dr. Ian Moore's choice to drive the son of Cattlewash-Mrs Major Hill.
"I spent the last six, seven years doing a lot of traveling, probably more than anybody in this drivers' colony, with Determination and Sylvia Hanover," McClure said. "It was difficult because you do lose a lot of the local horses and the provincial horses. People understandably want a driver they know is going to be here.
"I made a commitment at the start of this year that I didn't want to travel anymore. I wanted to be home more with my kids. And, you know, the time at home was definitely worth the decision, but Beau Jangles was really worth the decision.
"Maybe it's karma. Maybe it's not, I don't know. You take the good fortune, and you do the best you can with it. But I think anybody, anybody in the top 100 drivers in North America could have sat behind this guy and done exactly the same thing."
That might be a stretch. McClure has driven Beau Jangles perfectly. But, there's no denying the pacer is another-worldly talent.
On Friday, McClure put the colt on the lead from the rail and led the field through easy fractions of 26 1/5, 55 3/5 and 1:24, coming home in 26 4/5 to win by 2 1/2 lengths over Windor (Doug McNair) in 1:50 4/5 on a track rated good. Sent off at 1-9, Beau Jangles paid $2.10 to win.
The victory pushed Beau Jangles earnings to C$1,192,125 for the colt’s U.S. owners:
-Adam Ainspan and Mary Beth Roberts under the Graham Grace Stables LLC.
-Anne Hooper and Jonathan Roberts under the Kiwi Stables LLC.
-Ed, Garth and Philip Bolton, plus John Draper of the Bolton Stables
Bred by Tara Hill Stud, where Cattlewash also stands, Beau Jangles was purchased for $65,000 at last year's Standardbred Horse Sales Company yearling auction in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The winner of the C$1 million Grade 1 Metro Pace at Mohawk in September, Beau Jangles is now scheduled to take on Grand Circuit horses again in the Breeders Crown at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Eliminations are next weekend and Beau Jangles is raring to go.
"We had to put a mini bit in him tonight," Dr. Moore said of the colt, who was a handful in the winner's circle. "When I trained him on Tuesday, he was a handful for me then, too. So, we're probably going to try earplugs next week."
Dr. Moore said it was the first time he's had a horse sweep all five OSS Gold legs and the Super Final.
Before Beau Jangles came into his life, the trainer had planned to retire at the end of this season, proving the colt had gifted him with some serious karma, as well.
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A Clean Deal did not pace the most pristine path, but overcame obstacles to win the C$300,000 Super Final for 2-year-old filly pacers.
In a race that saw Th Check Me Out (post three), Daya (post five), and Jen Tilly (post seven) all leave, driver Doug McNair was content to protect pylon position with A Clean Deal (1-5 favorite) and let things settle before making his move to the lead.
Jen Tilly (driven by Louis-Philippe Roy, 29-1) got the first call, leading the field of eight past the quarter in 27 seconds. The action was then fast and furious, for no sooner had Jen Tilly settled in on the point, she was then challenged by Daya (Jody Jamieson, 2-1) who cleared to the lead approaching the three-eighths. McNair followed Jamieson's move, but was met with some hardball, resulting in A Clean Deal being stretched out before making the top just past the half in 55 2/5.
"I figured there'd be a couple pointing right out of there," McNair said of the start of the race. "And I figured Jody would want to follow us as soon as the dust settled, but we went a long ways, you know, she went a big trip there...so for a 2-year-old pacing filly to do that, it's fabulous."
As A Clean Deal led the field into the far turn, Roy moved Jen Tilly out of the three-hole and applied pressure to the leader. Although the two fillies were side-by-side for a couple of strides as they passed three-quarters in 1:23, A Clean Deal rebuffed that challenge, and then, when McNair kicked out the plugs, his filly took off.
A Clean Deal held off a fast-closing Shes a Bulldog (Bob McClure, 12-1) by three-quarters of a length in 1:50 2/5. Daya was third with Jen Tilly fourth.
When asked by Woodbine Mohawk Park's John Rallis if he was worried at any point as he turned for home, McNair said, "Yeah, you never know for sure, but I let Louis kind of get almost side-by-side with us. I figured he used his filly up a little bit early...first-up again, so I wasn't a whole lot worried about her, but I was worried about the one behind me and Burke's filly [Shes A Bulldog]. They've been high on her since the wintertime, so she went a big trip tonight, too.
"It’s everything [to win a Gold Super Final]. We work all year for nights like this, tonight and tomorrow. To get a win, just get one or just to get into the race, is a big deal. And to get a win is just a bonus."
The win improved the daughter of Cattlewash-Ideal Talker to 6-0-1 in seven career starts and upped her bankroll to C$454,464 for owners Yolanda Fellows, Blair Corbeil, Windermere Stable LLC. and James Ross.
Because of her four wins in five OSS Gold legs prior to tonight’s victory, A Clean Deal had trouble getting starts with overnight competition and had to qualify instead.
"Well, she made money and then she had too much money and too many wins, you can't race against aged horses because they just beat you up, so, we'd rather win a qualifier, keep her sharp, keep her brave...and it worked," said Rob Fellows, father of trainer Kyle Fellows. "There were two months where she had no racing, and that's hard to do for a filly, because they don't like training as much as geldings and studs do."
A Clean Deal, who paid $2.70 to her backers, was bred by Winbak Farm and was purchased for $20,000 U.S. at the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.
--press release (Ontario Sires Stakes)--