James Avritt, Sr. bred both winners of the $90,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Leg 2 events for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings contested Saturday, June 28 at Woodbine Mohawk Park – Crack Shot and Set Shot.

Crack Shot set a 1:50.2 career best while dominating the first Gold division in wire-to-wire fashion. In doing so, the son of Bettors Delight-Beautyonthebeach returned to the winner’s circle for the first time in five starts and exactly two weeks after finishing seventh in the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup.

Doug McNair left alertly with Crack Shot ($3.20) from Post 3 in the field of six and commanded fractions of :25.4, :54.4 and 1:23.3 with Boxer Seelster (Trevor Henry) second the entire mile and finishing five lengths back. Blue Bar (Travis Cullen) was third, Fubar Bundy (Jonathan Drury) was fourth, and Tip Of Time (Jody Jamieson) grabbed the final cheque. Control Rocks (Tyler Borth) originally finished fourth, but was placed sixth by the judges for interference.

McNair drove Crack Shot to victory for his father, Gregg McNair of Guelph, Ont., who trains and co-owns the colt. The elder McNair shares Crack Shot’s ownership with London Knights coach Dale Hunter of London, Ont., Frank Brundle of East Garafraxa, Ont., and George Kerr of Gowanstown, Ont. The group purchased Crack Shot for $205,000 at the 2023 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. Crack Shot improved to 3-1-0 in six 2025 starts and upped his seasonal bankroll to $149,224. The colt is now 8-2-0 in 14 career starts and has total earnings of $388,049.

Incredibly, Doug McNair won the Gold in Race 2 that went to post at 7:09 p.m. and still managed to make it to The Meadowlands to drive Ervin Hanover (finishing fifth) in the $118,493 second division of the Dave Brower Memorial for older pacers that went to post just two hours and 23 minutes later at 9:32 p.m.

Doug said he had a private plane waiting and the total flying time was about an hour.

“I wanted to say I could do it,” Doug said via text from New Jersey. “No one believed in me.”

Meanwhile, back in Milton in the second Gold division, Set Shot bested the field of five after the scratch of Smiling Dancer.

It was Sterling Choice (Billy Davis, Jr.) that led the field to the :27.3 quarter, but Jamieson, driving Set Shot for the first time, had his charge out and moving to the front before the :55.4 half. He retained the lead through the 1:23.3 three-quarter station and then the stretch battle was on.

Despite the short field, the race provided plenty of drama in the stretch with Set Shot holding off Aquinas Hanover (Bob McClure), who came flying on the outside from last to just miss by a half-length. Allstar Magic (Travis Cullen) nearly snuck past on the inside but finished third just a smidge behind Aquinas Hanover. Sterling Choice was fourth and Stonebridge Wizard (Tyler Jones) was fifth. The 1:51 mile was a career best for Set Shot.

“[Set Shot] fits the bill,” Jamieson told Woodbine broadcaster Greg Blanchard in the winner’s circle. “He's a beautiful animal, and he's got huge, huge speed. He wasn't even done [in the stretch]. He was just kind of waiting on them. He wants them to come to him and then so he can fight them off. He’s a pretty special animal, for sure.”

The win was the first in Ontario Sires Stakes action for Set Shot, a son of Bettors Delight out of Pristine Beauty owned by Mac and Carol Nichol of Burlington, Ont. and trained by Dr. Ian Moore. Set Shot is now 2-2-1 in seven 2025 starts and 3-3-2 in 15 lifetime outings. He now has earnings of $85,680 on the year and $126,674 lifetime.

The pacer was a $280,000 purchase at the 2023 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.

“[Set Shot is] right up there with all of our [three-year-old pacers],” Moore said. “He just had a fair season as a two-year-old last year, but he's changed a lot this spring. He trained down really well. I trained him with [$900,000 winner] Clever Cody and [$487,000 winner] Prince Hal Hanover and it actually made [Set Shot] go faster. He had to keep up to them and he was right there with them most of the winter in Florida. So, it was nice to see him win for sure.”

In open-class action, Grit N Grace ($3.40) went back-to-back in the $36,000 Fillies and Mares Preferred Pace. The Manitoba-bred filly led into the first turn for Jamieson, re-took the front on the backstretch, and kicked clear in mid-stretch before getting home to win by a length in 1:51 over the closing Blue Pacific (Tyler Borth). Glenboro (Travis Cullen) was third.

Grit N Grace is now 14-for-32 lifetime with $197,305 in earnings for owner/breeder Lorraine Rey of St. Claude, Man. The four-year-old Im The Pied Piper-Dragonart mare, who took a new mark of 1:49.3 last time out, is trained by Mike Kwietniowski.

Former Breeders Crown champion Gem Quality ($8.50) captured the $28,000 Preferred 2 Pace. The four-year-old came second-over out of fifth on the final turn, shifted out at the top of the lane, and battled past Blue Hunt (Ed Hensley) in deep-stretch to prevail by a neck in 1:50.2. Uncle Shank A (Trevor Henry) closed for the show spot.

The Dr. Ian Moore-trained Gem Quality has won 11 of 33 career starts and has earned $788,742. Let It Ride Stables Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., Odds On Racing of Boca Raton, Brad Grant of Milton, Ont., and Enviro Stables of Aventura, Fla. own the Captain Crunch-Twinkle stallion.

There were also three $16,000 second-leg splits of the Pop-Up Series for pacing males that are non-winners of $30,000 in 2025 in a minimum of 10 starts with starters for a purse of $12,000 or less in their last start or leg one starters also eligible. It Takes Two ($111.90) took the first in a 54-1 upset, R J Ringo ($3.80) won the second, and P L Oliver ($50.60) won the third division.

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

(Ontario Racing & Standardbred Canada; photo of Crack Shot winning on June 28)