Ontario Sires Stakes graduate Teddys Littleangel has been retired and will head to the breeding shed.
Trained by Ted MacDonnell throughout her racing career, the six-year-old Archangel-Pine Knolls mare retires with 13 wins, nine seconds and six thirds from 73 starts and $455,803 in earnings for owner/breeder Leonard Gamble of Etobicoke, Ont.
“I’ll sure miss her in the barn,” MacDonnell told Trot Insider. “She was always a true professional, never having a bad day, very easy to jog and train, but at the track at night she could be a little aggressive.”
Her attitude translated into success on the Ontario racing scene. Teddys Littleangel kicked off her career with back-to-back Ontario Sires Stakes victories as a two-year-old in the summer of 2018 -- including a first Gold Series win for MacDonnell -- and she added a Grand Circuit victory to her resume the following month winning a division of the Champlain Stakes. Teddys Littleangel was a three-time Gold winner in her sophomore season and went on to take a mark of 1:52.1 last fall at Woodbine Mohawk Park during her aged campaign.
Named for MacDonnell, the daughter of Archangel lived up to her special billing.
“Yes, she was named after me, which I didn’t realize until she was almost ready to qualify as a two-year-old,” said MacDonnell. “Usually namesakes don’t pan out too well, but she sure did. I’ve always been proud of her determination.”
Teddys Littleangel showed her tenacity time and time again, but a pair of races stand out for the Allenford, Ont. horseman.
“She won a Grand Circuit race at Mohawk at two, the Champlain,” recalled MacDonnell. “At that point, she showed us she was for real.
“And after having severe pneumonia, coming back and taking her lifetime mark of [1:]52.1 ... while mic’d up," he noted. "Most wouldn’t have made it back to the races."
Teddys Littleangel, who last raced on March 7 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, is being bred to Muscle Mass.
“Mr. Gamble has decided to keep ‘Teddy’ and breed her in Ontario because of our great program,” said MacDonnell. “I look forward to training her babies.”