Two-year-old trotters D A Johnny Cash and Verily turned in record performances during the fifth leg of Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) action at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Friday, Oct. 2.
D A Johnny Cash won the $150,000 Gold Series event for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings in a 1:52.3 divisional stakes record. The time bettered the previous stakes record of 1:53 set earlier in the year by division leader Unstable Genius, a three-time Gold champion who did not race in Friday’s fifth and final leg.
The winning time was also a track and Canadian record for two-year-old trotting geldings, knocking two-fifths of a second off the mark co-held by Unstable Genius and Gaines Hanover (October 2022).
Sent off as the 2-5 favourite in the field of seven, D A Johnny Cash, driven by Doug McNair, got away fourth as Three Six Zero (Jody Jamieson) led the group to the :27.4 quarter. As Detonater Hanover (Tyler Moore) looped the early leader, McNair moved his charge out and cleared to command past the :56.1 half. D A Johnny Cash cruised clear to three-quarters in 1:24.4 and won by 1-1/2 lengths with Detonater Hanover chasing from the pocket in second and Three Six Zero third.
“I just thought as long as [D A Johnny Cash] stays to his business and trots, I didn't think they could beat him,” said McNair in a post-race interview. “He’s a real fast horse. He’s got all kinds of trot. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime horse.”
A Grassroots Series winner early in the summer, D A Johnny Cash earned his first Gold victory on Friday night following a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Mohawk Million last weekend for trainer Chris Matthews, who co-owns the gelded son of Green Manalishi S out of Mabel Kipp with Todd Williams of Guelph, Ont., and Jeff Bryan of Amaranth, Ont.
A $50,000 yearling purchase from the 2025 London Classic Yearling Sale, D A Johnny Cash now sports a seasonal summary reading 3-1-1 in eight starts and has earnings of $250,500.
“Before we qualified, he started showing signs he had some ability, and when I qualified him, I thought, ‘You know, he might make some noise this summer,’” said Matthews. “I didn't expect to be in the Mohawk Million, but I thought he'd be all right.
“I'm blessed. Hopefully, we'll just go for a ride and hang on as long as we can with him.”
D A Johnny Cash paid $2.80 to win.
The victory allowed D A Johnny Cash to jump into fourth place in the Gold divisional standings. The top 10 horses are eligible to compete in the $350,000 Super Final on Oct. 10 at Mohawk.
Verily smashed the stakes record for two-year-old trotting fillies, previously shared by four fillies, with a 1:53 score in the first of two $100,000 OSS Gold events for this division.
Sent postward as the 2-5 favourite in the first filly split with Louis-Philippe Roy aboard, Verily converted a perfect pocket trip into her third Gold victory, winning by three-quarters of a length over tempo-setter Northernlights Glo (Daryl Thiessen).
Northernlights Glo, the 4-1 second choice, led the field of seven through fractions of :27.4, :56 and 1:24.1, but was out-duelled by Verily in the stretch, who shattered the previous OSS record of 1:53.4 shared by Bee A Magician (2012), Lil Sweet (2024), Bingo Night (2025) and Rebel Moon (2026). Jyn Erso (Doug McNair) advanced from the back to finish third and was followed by Rebel Moon in this leg.
Meg Crone trains the Muscle Mass-Yen filly, who was an $85,000 yearling purchase at the 2025 London Classic Yearling Sale by owner Bill Donovan of Delray Beach, Florida. Verily, the Grade 1 Peaceful Way Stakes runner-up, is now 3-2-1 in seven career starts and has earnings of $256,575.
“She's just very well-mannered,” said Crone after the race. “Nothing stresses her. When she was in the retention barn, she was great. She ate, she drank well, she was never bothered a bit. She's always been really smart, too.”
Verily paid $2.90 to win.
In the second filly division, 1-5 favourite Major Contender also posted her third Gold victory of the year for driver Jody Jamieson and trainer Carl Jamieson, holding off Queen Of Bs (Chris Christoforou) by a neck in 1:54.1.
Simea (Trevor Henry) led the field through fractions of :28, :57.2 and 1:25.3 with Major Contender in the pocket the entire way. Major Contender took command at the top of the stretch with Queen Of Bs already advancing in the outer flow behind her. Shortly thereafter, Simea made a break leaving Major Contender and Queen Of Bs to battle the rest of the way with R Rosie (Doug McNair) finishing third at the pylons.
“They trotted [1]:54 tonight, which I think was a huge effort,” said Jody Jamieson following the victory. “But they had three weeks between starts. You know, a week off, a little respite there in the middle… it's tough to keep them sharp all year long with the weather changes and stuff like that.
“This filly’s just been a really good doer the whole time, and I think we got the right division to go in [tonight]. The other one went [1]:53 with Verily. She was a monster, and then Northernlights Glo was awesome again, too. It’s a hell of a division… These fillies are tough.”
The daughter of King Of The North out of Major Muscle has won three stakes in a row including a last-out Grade 3 Champlain Stakes score.
Major Contender was purchased for $110,000 at the 2025 Standardbred Horse Sales Company yearling auction and is now 4-2-0 in nine career starts with earnings of $255,033. She is owned by her Puslinch, Ont. based trainer along with 1140545 Ontario Ltd. of Guelph, Ont., David Lemon of London, Ont., and George Harrison of Preston, Lancashire, England.
Major Contender paid $2.60 to win.
In regular racing action, Lets N Joy N lowered her lifetime mark to 1:49.1 winning Mohawk's Fillies & Mares Open Pace for the seventh time this season.
After sitting next-to-last in sixth as fractions were clocked in :26.3, :54.3 and 1:22, the Jacques Dupont trainee sprinted home in :26.3 for driver J.R. Plante to win the $44,000 top distaff class by 1-1/2 lengths over the pylon-skimming Sensationalize A (Travis Cullen), with 3-2 favourite and first-half leader Wise Professor (Doug McNair) fending off Century Jamila (Louis-Philippe Roy) and Absolution (Trevor Henry) in a show photo.
The four-year-old Bettors Delight-Rock N Joy mare improved to 13-for-23 in her first season competing in North America while earning nearly $285,000 for owner Ecurie Csl of Sorel-Tracy, Que.
She paid $5.30 to win as the second favourite.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Ontario Racing & Standardbred Canada; photo of D A Johnny Cash winning on Oct. 2)