Sent the 2-1 favourite, Boadicea brushed to the helm past the half and posted swift fractions in progress to a blowout victory in the $225,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Super Final for three-year-old pacing fillies on Saturday, Oct. 12 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Driver Jonathan Drury nestled Boadicea into third rounding the first turn as Sunny Dee led pocket-sitter Powerful Chris to a :26.2 opening quarter. Drury then gave the Bill Budd trainee her cue and rushed the Boadicea to the lead before a :53.4 half. Thats Incredible, parked from the start, continued to stall entering the final turn.
Thats Incredible retreated rounding the final turn as Boadicea sped to three-quarters in 1:21.1. Sunny Dee veered from the pocket straightening for the finish but drifted towards the center of the track giving pursuit to Boadicea as Drury urged her to a 1:49.2 victory. Sunny Dee gained ground late in the race but settled for second while Ideation Hanover rallied for third.
“Those were some pretty big fractions,” Drury said after the race. “I was hoping I’d be able to get her into a spot where I could move her around to the front and let her do her thing. She’s better if you keep her rolling along. She was unbelievable and Billy [Budd]’s done a great job keeping her fresh all year.”
A homebred for Chuck and Gordon Lawrence, Boadicea collected her eighth victory from 13 starts this season and her 11th from 18 overall, earning $439,652. The daughter of Big Jim returned $6.40 to win and could keep her season going into next week by supplementing into the Breeders Crown.
“This is just a dream come true,” said Gordon Lawrence after the race on owning a stakes-winning filly. “I’ve been dreaming about this my whole life as is everybody in horse racing. To be here with my grandfather, my whole family…phenomenal. This is exactly what its about; this is why you get up in the morning to do the work.”
“She is a horse of a lifetime,” Chuck Lawrence said after the race. “I’ve owned horses since 1968. I’ve raced invitation horses at the Meadowlands but I’ve never had a horse like this. This is the best horse I’ve ever had and [I’ll] probably never have another one like her. We’ll talk to Billy [Budd] about [supplementing to the Breeders Crown] and if we’re all on board she’ll be there.”
When asked if Boadicea’s season is over yet, Billy Budd said “I don’t think so.”