2012 OSS Season Comes To A Close

Published: November 10, 2012 06:27 pm EST

The top two and three-year-olds in the Ontario Sires Stakes program showcased their talents in the $2.4 million season-ending Super Finals on Saturday night at Woodbine Racetrack.

Trot Insider has provided complete coverage of the eight $300,000 stakes events below.

Top ranked two-year-old trotting filly Bee A Magician completed her Ontario Sires Stakes season with a stakes and track record victory in the first $300,000 Super Final of the night sending driver Rick Zeron over a special career earnings milestone.

Bee A Magician romped to a wide-open 1:53.4 victory as the heavy 1-9 favourite with Charmed Life (Paul MacDonell) and Motown Muscle (Mario Baillargeon) rounding out the top three finishers. She paid $2.10 to win.

Legzy (Sylvain Filion) and Moms Apple Pie (Mike Saftic) left the gate together from their outer posts and settled on top of the field during a :27.2 opening quarter while second choice Angies Lucky Star (Trevor Henry) broke stride early on.

As the fillies entered the backstretch, Zorgwijk Nova (Jody Jamieson) advanced first over from fourth with Bee A Magician following her cover and angling three-wide while she worked her way to the top past the :58-second half-mile mark.

Bee A Magician quickly made the front and began to open up on the field as she raced by three-quarters in 1:26. She was home-free entering the stretch, but continued to pour it on down the lane for the record-setting score. The final margin of victory was nine and a half lengths.

“I was very confident coming into this final especially when I drew the four-hole,” commented Zeron after the victory. “I was very happy with the draw and it worked out that she got off the gate well and she was sharp and she grabbed a hold of the lines for me so I knew that leaving the gate she was going to pull me out of there and get positioned well.

"I got into a position tonight that she was just perfect, she was spot on, and then Jody moved at the quarter pole and I followed Jody and I carried her around Jody and she did the rest of the work herself. She’s just that fast and that strong of a filly.”

Bred by White Birch Farm of Allentown, New Jersey, the Kadabra-Beehive filly was purchased for $90,000 at the Harrisburg Sale last year by Melvin Hartman of Ottawa, Ont., Herb Liverman of Miami Beach, Florida and David McDuffee of Delray Beach, Florida. She has since won 10 of her 13 races while banking $757,138 in purse earnings under the care of conditioner Richard ‘Nifty’ Norman. Among her victories are two Gold Finals on Aug. 9 at Mohawk Racetrack and Oct. 9 at Georgian Downs, a division of the Champlain Stakes and the Peaceful Way Stakes.

Bee A Magician lowered fellow Norman trainee Poof Shes Gone's 1:55.3 OSS record, which was set in 2009, and Crys Dream's 1:54.3 track record, set in 2010. She just missed Win Missy B's Canadian record by one-fifth of a second.

For Zeron, the victory put his lifetime earnings over the $100 million mark.

With the favoured division leader Murmur Hanover making a costly break in stride early on and eventual first-place finisher Majestized violating the pylon rules, the door was left wide-open for Creampuff MacDaddy and driver Randy Waples to inherit the victory in the $300,000 Super Final for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings.

With the inside post advantage, Murmur Hanover (Mario Baillargeon) grabbed the lead early over Creampuff MacDaddy (Randy Waples) and Majestized (Jack Moiseyev) while Flanagan Memory (Sylvain Filion) was parked out in the mix. But as the 3-5 favourite approached the :26.3 first quarter mark, he jumped it off handing the lead to Creampuff MacDaddy.

Flanagan Memory eventually cleared to command during the second panel, but Creampuff MacDaddy pulled the pocket and re-took the lead past the :57-second half-mile mark.

As the Brad Maxwell trainee raced to three-quarters in 1:26.3, he began to draw away from the field, but Majestized chased him down in the stretch, prevailing by three-quarters of a length. However, following a judges' inquiry, Majestized was placed back to second for going inside two consecutive pylons in the first turn and being lapped on at the finish by Creampuff MacDaddy, who inherited the win, clocked in a career-best 1:56.2. Its Payday Friday (Chris Christoforou) finished third.

Creampuff MacDaddy paid $18 to win.

"The horse has been off for awhile and actually I was really happy to sit behind [the favourite Murmur Hanover],” said Maxwell in the winner's circle. “I thought we might have a chance to beat him down the lane if we got to sit behind him, but then we had to go to the front and it wasn’t really his race for now. But things worked out and we got lucky. The horse did a great job and Randy did a nice job driving him and we’re thankful.”

Bred by Spring Haven Farm of Utica, Ohio, the $22,000 Harrisburg Sale yearling purchase has won three of his 10 starts this year to bank $276,620. He is owned by Howard Taylor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Theodore Gewertz of New York City, New York, Edwin Gold of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania and Judith Taylor of Bala CYNWYD, Pennsylvania.

Creampuff MacDaddy, a son of Ken Warkentin out of Celebrity Cream, ranked third in his OSS divisional standings behind Murmur Hanover and Majestized after winning an OSS Gold Final on Aug. 6 at Grand River Raceway and finishing second by a nose in the Aug. 23 final at Mohawk.

Backed by the betting public, 2-5 favourite Love Canal advanced first over to win the $300,000 Super Final for two-year-old pacing fillies with Jody Jamieson in the bike.

When the wings of the gate closed, Its No Secret (Anthony MacDonald) left hard from the outside post 10 and cleared to command before the first turn. She led the field past the opening quarter in :26.3 before divisional leader Kims Royal Day (Billy Davis Jr.) pulled the pocket and took over the top spot.

Kims Royal Day fronted the field past the half in :56.4 and three-quarters in 1:26.1 while Love Canal launched her first over attack from mid-pack. Love Canal swept by the leader in the stretch and cruised to the wire in 1:54.1 for the two length score. Kims Royal Day finished second in a dead-heat with Adventurepan (Randy Waples).

Love Canal paid $2.80 to win.

"I believed right from the start she was going to be a top filly," commented Jamieson after the win. "She shows it peridoically and tonight she just won it as handy as possible."

The Badlands Hanover-A Votre Pante filly is trained by Tony O'Sullivan and owned by breeder Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Robert Cooper Stables LLC of Boca Raton, Florida, and J And T Silva Stables LLC of Long Beach, New York.

She has won half of her eight starts, including her only OSS Gold elimination and final starts on June 28 and July 6 at Mohawk Racetrack, to earn $275,727 to date.

Driven by Sylvain Filion, three-year-old trotting colt Prestidigitator became just the seventh Ontario Sires Stakes starter to earn back-to-back wins in the Super Finals.

Knows Nothing (Jody Jamieson) blasted off the gate from the outermost post 10 to make the lead during a scorching :25.4 opening panel before the parked out Prestidigitator worked his way to the top into the backstretch.

The new leader proceeded to the half in :55.2 and three-quarters in 1:25.4 with Amigo Ranger (Wayne MacLean) advancing from third to apply first over pressure.

However, Prestidigitator turned back that rival entering the stretch and cruised home to score in 1:54 flat with Knows Nothing following one length behind. Cold Certified (Scott Zeron) finished third.

Prestidigitator paid $3.40 to win as the 3-5 favourite.

After winning last year's two-year-old colt trot Super Final, the Kadabra-Shesa Priority colt ranked number one in the OSS sophomore division this year having collected three Gold Final trophies on July 7 at Georgian, Aug. 25 at Mohawk, and Oct. 8 at Woodbine. He is the first OSS starter to repeat in the Super Finals since fellow Kadabra son Text Me completed the feat in 2009 and 2010.

Trained by Dustin Jones, Prestidigitator has earned $549,481 of his $870,153 career bankroll this year while winning six races in 17 starts.

"He was a really strong horse as a two-year-old and he came back even stronger this year," commented Filion after the victory. "He's had a great year and he finished it off real good. I've got to admit he did [exceed my expectations this year]. He raced against the best in the world and he held up pretty good and he's still racing good at this stage in the season. I have to give the credit to Dustin because [Prestidigitator] is pretty high maintenance -- he has some issues -- but they've done a great job with him."

The $120,000 Harrisburg yearling purchase was bred by Mary Smith and Richard Uhle of Kalamazoo, Michigan and is owned by Ecurie Synergie of Montreal, Que.

Mach A Wish brought driver Rick Zeron and trainer Tony O'Sullivan back to the winner's circle while denying defending champion Apogee Hanover the victory in the $300,000 Super Final for three-year-old pacing fillies.

Leaving from post three, Mach A Wish established the lead and carved out fractions of :26.4, :57.3 and 1:25.4 en route to the 1:52.2 two and a half length triumph. Apogee Hanover (Doug McNair) advanced first over from mid-pack to place. Pocket-sitter Katys Jet (Scott Zeron), who held a one-point lead over Apogee Hanover in the OSS divisional standings, finished third.

Mach A Wish paid $9.50 to win.

"I was nervous, but at the half I was pretty confident," said O'Sullivan following the victory. "She's a good filly and these other fillies are just as good as her, but when Rick got a half of :57 and change I knew that if she was on her game they'd have a hard time beating her."

The Mach Three-Belinda Hanover filly was bred by 30 Plus Stable of Trenton, Ont. and privately purchased at the end of February by the Cambridge, Ont.-based O'Sullivan and David Goodrow Stable.

Unraced at two, Mach A Wish has won eight of her 17 starts this year, including the Gold Final on Aug. 27 at Mohawk, while banking $333,680.

"We bought her privately at the end of February and she had shown ability, but I bought her thinking she might be a nice Sires Stakes horse, and more importantly just a nice racehorse, and she's far exceeded it," added O'Sullivan.

Driver Sylvain Filion also doubled up in Super Final action with another Kadabra trotter as three-year-old filly Smarty Pants pulled off a mild upset in the following $300,000 event.

Filion fired the third-ranked filly off the gate from post seven to establish the early lead during a :26-second opening panel, but gave way to the pocket-pulling Sugar Wheeler (Paul MacDonell) into the backstretch.

Sugar Wheeler's lead was short-lived too though as Daylon Miracle (Dave Wall) was on the move and rolled up from fourth with Lexus Helios (Mike Saftic) picking up her cover. Daylon Miracle edged by Sugar Wheeler past the :56.2 half-mile mark and fronted the field through three-quarters in 1:25.2.

Lexus Helios confronted the leading filly into the stretch and wore her down, but Smarty Pants came flying by for the 1:54.4 career-best equalling victory. One More Ginny (Mario Baillargeon) was a hard-closing second up the inside while Lexus Helios (Mike Saftic) settled for third.

Smarty Pants paid $19 to win.

"She's got a good character, she's got a great mind for racing and it was pretty easy for her tonight to keep trotting," said Filion. "She raced a few starts as a two-year-old, but she's had a season of hits and misses and I'm just happy she turned out the way she did tonight."

Bred by Walnut Hall Stock Farm of Lexington, Kentucky, the $40,000 Lexington Select Sale yearling is trained by Per Henriksen for Ontario owners Stan Klemencic of Trenton, Dr. Brett Anderson of Port Hope, and Asa Farm of Norwood.

Lightly raced as a freshman, the Kadabra-Twitty filly has earned the bulk of her $324,198 bankroll this year while compiling a seasonal record reading 4-5-3 in 19 outings. Among her wins are a division of the Casual Breeze Stakes.

Mach Pride edged out Ok Fantastic in a photo finish to capture the Super Final trophy for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings with Anthony MacDonald aboard.

Ok Fantastic (Rick Zeron) and Mach Pride left the gate together from posts five and six with Ok Fantastic taking the lead with the inner advantage during the sizzling :25.3 opener.

After settling away third from post nine, OSS divisional leader Windsong Jack (Randy Waples) brushed to command down the backstretch, clearing at the :55.2 half-mile mark.

Windsong Jack opened up two lengths on his foes as he raced to three-quarters in 1:23.3, but Ok Fantastic reeled him in down the stretch. As he struck the front with the finish line approaching, Mach Pride came flying up into the win photo and got his nose to the wire first in a career-best clocking of 1:51.4. Ok Fantastic and Windsong Jack settled for second and third-place honours.

Mach Pride paid $24.10 for the upset win.

The Mach Three-Cyber Wave colt, bred by Kenneth Rucker of Mondovi, Wisconsin, is trained by Louie Eftimiadis and owned by Gerald Mijal of Westland, Michigan.

“Louie has done a good job with this colt,” noted MacDonald after the victory. “For him to be this big on this night is a really hard thing to do.”

Mach Pride finished the OSS regular season second in the point standings thanks in part to a Gold Final win on July 22 at Rideau Carleton Raceway. He has compiled a record reading 6-3-4 in 14 starts this year while stashing away $433,600 in purse earnings.

With the rain starting to fall, Michaels Power wrapped up Super Final Night with a dazzling stakes and track record performance in the three-year-old pacing colt and gelding division with Scott Zeron in the sulky.

Leaving from post three, the divisional leader out-sprinted I Found My Beach (Randy Waples) to the lead, but Mel Mara (Ron Pierce) was on the move early and rolled up to take over command as they passed the opening quarter in :26-seconds.

Defending champion and 3-5 favourite Warrawee Needy (Jody Jamieson) made his move down the backstretch, marching to command from mid-pack past the half in :53.4.

He proceeded to three-quarters in 1:20.1, but couldn't hold off the late-rallying Michaels Power, who swept by to score in a new mark of 1:48.1 by three-quarters of a length. Warrawee Needy was second and I Found My Beach finished third.

The mile time shaved three-fifths of a second off Warrawee Needy's OSS record and Red River Hanover's sophomore track record, which was set back in 2002. It also came within two-fifths of a second of the Canadian record, co-held by Sweet Lou and Thinking Out Loud.

Michaels Power paid $12.80 to win.

The Camluck-Michelles Jackpot gelding is trained by Casie Coleman for owner-breeder Jeffrey Snyder of New York City, New York.

"I just wanted this horse to finish out his year strong," said Zeron. "He's had a phenomenal year. He's made my entire year let alone career and Casie's done a great job with him and the caretaker Linda Coleman. He's just been a phenomenal horse to drive every single week he hits the track and to finish as strong as he did, I'm really proud of him."

Lightly raced as a freshman, Michaels Power has put together a record reading 14-2-1 in 20 starts this year while pushing his career bankroll to $1,488,345. He's racked up three Gold trophies in the finals on July 7 at Georgian, Aug. 4 at Mohawk, and Aug. 26 at Rideau Carleton. Among his other accomplishments are winning the Upper Canada Cup, Confederation Cup, Canadian Breeders Championship, Little Brown Jug and a division of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes.

For results from Saturday night's card of harness racing, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Racetrack.

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