Woodbine Mohawk Park featured the four $300,000 Super Finals for two-year-olds on Friday (Oct. 13) evening to kick off the first of two nights of year-end action for the 2023 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold divisions.

Willys Home Run: The Name Says It All

Five-for-five in Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series Legs leading up to Friday’s $300,000 Super Final, Willys Home Run’s biggest adversary looked like it might be her outside post assignment in the ten-horse field.

Dontmesswithmama was scratched sick, but also-eligible Sonar Seelster drew in to replace her from post five.

The 1–5 favourite stepped onto the track at an easy jog for regular driver James MacDonald, looking relaxed in the post parade. She followed R Liza and Jody Jamieson, who walked out from the paddock.

The calm before the storm showed when the fillies would leave aggressively from the two outside post positions to dispute the early lead.

The battle was brief, as R Liza rolled into a break while crossing over, leaving Willys Home Run to essentially walk the bases for the remainder of the winning mile.

Two other finalists, No One and Evolving, also made untimely breaks early in the race.

MacDonald’s filly was never headed through fractions of :27.1, :57.2, and 1:26.4, coasting to the wire in a final time of 1:56.2.

Her closest competition was place-finisher Valuable Miss, who made an adventurous first-over move on the final turn for driver Trevor Henry. She changed paths to try again from the pocket in the stretch, but Willys Home Run kept ahead by open lengths, needing zero urging.

After the race, MacDonald told Woodbine Mohawk Park interviewer John Rallis that he wasn’t going for “accolades” with Willys Home Run, but instead was “just trying to get all the money we can for the owners and myself and [trainer] Kyle [Fellows]…Like I said, she’s been a dream.”

Fellows himself was filled with praise for the ultra-professional filly, a full sister and stablemate to Logan Park, who has three consecutive victories in the Woodbine Mohawk Park Free For All Trot.

“She trained down as a good horse, and you know, you always dream of these moments, but it’s hard to put too much pressure on her. She has a big family behind her, and everyone had high expectations, but she came through and had a big year for us,” he said. “To be honest, we were just happy to make it here [to the Super Finals], and then with the bad posts, you know, we were wishing for the best outcome. But she did everything she could all year; she made us look good. She’s a true champion.”

About those post positions: Willys Home Run semi-famously took her 1:55.1 lifetime mark from Woodbine Mohawk Park's Post 10 in Gold Series Leg Four, Sept. 2.

Even so, the winning trainer called the post a “gut punch” in the crucial end to the OSS season: “Because you know, there’s some other good fillies in there. She’s been dominant, but it’s two-year-old trotting fillies — you can't really count on them the way you want to sometimes.”

Owned by Dr. Sara Gatchell, Jake Higgs, and breeder Reg Higgs of Strathroy, Ont., with Yolanda Fellows of Rockwood, Ont., the first 2023 Gold Super Final champion of the night was surrounded by her happy connections in a bustling winners’ circle.

Jennifer Robinson is caretaker for the Archangel–Rite Outa The Park filly.

A smiling Fellows struggled to sum up the perfect OSS season of Willys Home Run: “I can't really describe it...it's an awesome feeling.”

Willys Home Run paid $2.70 to win. 

Pass Line an Easy Winner in OSS Gold Super Final

Yannick Gingras steered Pass Line to a victory in OSS Gold Series action in early Sept. at Mohawk. He was so impressed with the rookie pacing filly that he returned Friday evening to guide her in the $300,000 Super Final. Together, they turned in an impressive 1:50.4 performance in the night’s fourth race, winning handily for trainer David Menary. 

“Absolutely, she was really good that night, she really impressed me and I made sure I told them, it fit the schedule right, there was no racing this weekend so I said absolutely I will show up to drive her in the final,” Gingras said of having incentive to return to drive the filly Friday.

Entering the Super Final, Pass Line had claimed victory in eight of 10 seasonal starts for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC and Frank Baldachino.  

In Gold Series action she captured four of five attempts, leading the division in points and money earned, with $263,878 of her $362,152 accumulated in the series.   

She also had the distinction of being the fastest rookie filly in the history of the OSS program by virtue of that Sept. 2 triumph, a 1:49.3 clocking with Gingras at the lines.  

With the stellar resume Pass Line had assembled throughout the summer and fall, it came as no surprise that the All Bets Off-Breakheart Pass filly was sent off as the heavy favourite Friday evening.  

Bred by Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, the freshman made it look easy en route to her ninth win of the year.   

Lining up in Post 7, Gingras sent her to the point when the wings folded, moving past Odds On Platinum and Sylvain Filion in the turn and clicking off a :26.2 opening panel. From there, the young pacer called the shots through fractions of :55.1 and 1:23.2.  

Racing out of the last turn, Gingras asked the filly and she distanced herself from the field. Under wraps late in the lane, the 2-5 favourite crossed the wire a comfortable two and one-half lengths in front.

“I liked her better off the helmet. Last time I felt like she could have gone two more laps,” Gingras said. “When I went with her today, I had to ask her in the stretch to keep her on the task and I definitely think she's better following.”  

Following Pass Line across the wire were Odds On Platinum (9-1), Blazing Belle and Doug McNair (98-1) and stablemate Its A Love Thing, driven by James MacDonald (3-1).  

She paid $2.80 for the win.

In the Champagne Room, Menary reflected on the provincial season campaign with Pass Line. 

“I was blessed to have the opportunity to have a filly like this, she's been good from day one and she ended on a good note too and she'll be going home for the Breeder's Crown,” he said. 

From the second crop of triple millionaire All Bets Off, Pass Line eclipsed $500,000 in earnings with the victory.   

The filly’s owners also campaigned the son of Bettors Delight before he retired to stand at Seelster Farms.

Willowtime Bends But Doesn’t Break in Gold Series Final

Friday the 13th was Bob McClure’s lucky day in the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series Super Final for two-year-old male trotters at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

However, it didn’t look that way, as Willowtime turned for home after being pressed through a :27 flat opening quarter and :55.4 half by parked-out challenger Myretirementdream and driver Jody Jamieson.

Willowtime came into the divisional championship with a blemish on his three-win freshman season: Sept. 29 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, the colt had left well in Gold Series Leg Five for regular driver McClure and was leading at the top of the stretch, when he abruptly veered inside the pylons on a break.

Although the 1–5 favourite held on for show, Eli Wagler’s Myretirementdream trotted past late for the win and number-one status in the Gold Series division.

Previously undefeated in three pari-mutuel starts, Willowtime had won two Gold Series Legs at Georgian Downs and Woodbine Mohawk Park, as well as a Sept. 14 Champlain Stake division.

The move that racing analyst Randy Waples dubbed “the funky chicken” cost the number-three ranked OSS Gold Series colt a fourth consecutive win, in his last start before the $300,000 Super Final.

The turn for home loomed ahead Friday night, as Willowtime tried to go gate-to-wire for McClure.

Myretirementdream had already backed down, but whatever had sent Willowtime into his previous break threatened to do so again: The colt gave up much of a four-open length advantage when he “blew the turn” again after reaching three-quarters in 1:25.3, in the words of race caller Chad Rozema.

“This wasn’t my plan,” admitted a relieved McClure after the 1:54.4 victory. “I kind of thought, you know, this couldn’t set up any better for [place finisher] Griff,” who was rapidly closing the distance between himself and the leader. “He raced real tough…It’s unfortunate. I wish I had been able to let him go. It would have made things a lot easier. I don’t know what he’s doing at the three-quarter pole, but he trots perfect the rest of the way so...we’re not going to talk about that right now, because he got the job done.”

He credited trainer Mark Etsell with improving Willowtime’s mental game. The winning driver said he wasn’t expecting a repeat of the Gold Series Leg Five antics for his colt: “I wasn’t, until he tried to, and then I was pretty tense but he came out of it. Mark usually knows how to catch those pretty good. He’s a great trainer, so he obviously taught him how to catch himself this week, so it was perfect.”

Willowtime is a Lookslikeachpndale–Sos Respect colt owned by Etsell, of Rockwood, Ont., with partners Peter Porter of Port Dover, Ont. and breeder Terry Devos of Langton, Ont..   

Etsell told Woodbine Mohawk Park interviewer John Rallis he was satisfied with the 2023 Gold Super Final champ’s progress: “It’s great. Nice bounce back from last start, but we’ve had a lot of confidence in him since his first start and he’s been really good.” The trainer attributed Willowtime’s worrisome moments to being “just very green and very immature…like a big kid [who] doesn't focus a lot. So we changed some stuff this week, and he seemed to do a lot better.”

Willowtime paid $4.60 to win.

Storm Shadow Thunders Over Favourite at 32-1 in Super Final

Bob McClure made his first drive on Storm Shadow a stunning 32-1 upset in the $300,000 two-year-old colt and gelding pace OSS Gold Series Super Final. The time for the mile was a lifetime-best 1:51.1.

The field was reduced to eight when Nijinsky and Wikipedia scratched.

Driver McClure got the most out of the Bettors Delight colt late in the stretch as 1-9 favourite Funtime Bayama was struggling to hold the lead he worked through fast fractions to get.

"He felt like a nice horse right away, nice and relaxed," McClure said after the race he was happy with the colt's response in the fiery mile. "I'd be lying if I said I expected to win but I thought I had a shot at getting a good cheque." Also, he was surprised at the win price. "I don't think he should've paid those odds."

Trainer Dr. Ian Moore said he was "not necessarily happy first over but this colt has improved every time we've raced him," and McClure said, "it was an easy decision to move him. Ian's horses are ready to go and he's had a good year."

Dr. Moore had a lot of confidence coming to Woodbine Mohawk Park for the Super Final after Storm Shadow's big win in the $100,400 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series Final at Flamboro last week, especially since it was tough getting him to that level.

"We got him from the Harrisburg sale," Dr. Moore said. "He came from Tara Hills Stud and I got a week in him and then he got a colic and we had to do a colic surgery on him. He was off for two full months. He started back on the track at the end of January.He was a late bloomer. Now, he doesn't need a whip tap anymore. He just goes on his own."

Storm Shadow was aggressive early, taking the lead for a short time over Chain Gang and Mirage Hanover past the :26 first quarter.

He sat cold as Funtime Bayama left the pylons and muscled to the top in an attempt to dominate the group going into a :53.4 half and was still in charge clocking three-quarters in 1:23.

Free of traffic mid-stretch, Storm Shadow gained rapidly as Funtime Bayama was all out to stay afloat in front.

McClure hand-drove his colt easily and out-paced Crush Kill Destroy, at 79-1, who took second zooming along grandstand-wide.

Funtime Bayama, the overwhelming public choice, just held on to take the third spot.

R G McGroup Ltd., Serge Savard, Mac Nichol, and Bolton Farms LLC own Storm Shadow. The Bettors Delight-Fade colt rose his earnings to $287,054 winning his third in nine starts.

Storm Shadow is bred by Tara Hills Stud Ltd in Port Perry, Ont.

Dr. Moore said if the colt came out of the race all right that the team may be headed to Hoosier Park in the U.S. to take on the freshman division in the Breeders Crown next.

Storm Shadow finished fourth at 55-1 in a Metro Pace elimination and was dismissed by the public at 80-1 in the final, finishing fifth.

His upset win paid $67.70.

Pop Up Series Lines Friday Undercard

Amidst the star studded Friday card, four Pop Up Series divisions, each worth $15,000, were contested for sophomore pacers.

Sis ($6.10) won the first filly division by a head in 1:55 with Tyler Borth in the bike for trainer James Dean and owner Wilma & James Mackenzie. Tre Ta Ta ($13.60) took the second filly division with Beau Brown steering his trainee to a five-length victory in 1:52.3 for owner Jennifer & Beau Brown.

The Moment Arose ($4.00) took the first boys division in 1:52.1 by 1-1/2 lengths for trainer Gregg McNair and owners John Stamatis, Joseph Orofiamma, and JAmes Georgakopoulos with Doug McNair at the lines. The second boys division was won in a massive upset by a half length in 1:54.1 by Thersomthinggoinon ($123.60) with Brown back in the bike of his student for owners Jennifer Brown, Hunter Holton, and Charles Symes.

To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.

(With files from Ontario Racing)