P L Spencer won the fastest of two $90,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Series events for three-year-old trotting colts on Thursday (May 29) at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Ritchie Rich was the winner of the second division.
In the first OSS event of the night, P L Spencer set a lifetime best 1:54 while winning his first career Gold Series event in his first outing in the top provincial class.
Driver Bob McClure eased the gelded son of Resolve out of P L Indyanaca into fourth out of post eight in the early going as Fast Snap (Chris Christoforou) led the field to the quarter in :28.
P L Spencer (7-2) brushed to the front before the :57.1 and then held the nine-horse field at bay through the three-quarters in 1:25.2, trotting home in :28.3 to win by 2-1/2 lengths over favourite Wearing The Green (Doug McNair). Fast Snap was third, Cousin Halifax (Travis Cullen) fourth and LMC Wagon Wheel (Tyler Borth) picked up the final cheque.
“[Fast Snap] looked like he wanted to be covered up, so I let [P L Spencer] try [the front], and then from there, he was pretty green the whole way,” McClure told Woodbine Mohawk Park’s Chad Rozema. “Down the stretch, he didn’t have the same powerful kick he had the week before, coming off a helmet. But if that's not his A plus game, and he can still win, I’m pretty happy.”
P L Spencer is owned by his trainer, Steve Bossence of London, Ont., along with Richard Thompson, also of London, Derek Reid of Etobicoke, Ont. and E C S Racing Llc of Rockford, MI. The trotter was bred by Prince Lee Acres of Uxbridge, Ont. and purchased as a yearling for $40,000 at the 2023 London Classic Yearling Sale.
P L Spencer improved to 4-1-0 in nine career starts and more than doubled his lifetime earnings to $85,150. The gelding is now 3-1-0 in five starts in 2025.
“Last year, he seemed like the real deal, and we had trouble with a foot,” Bossence said. “He got a quarter crack, and then his angle got really low, and we raced him once more, and he made a break. He went to Kentucky, and we gave him some time off out there, and then brought him back, and he's come back great. He is way better going without the hobbles on, but when he made the break, I said, ‘He'll, he'll go without them, before he's done, I know he will.’ He's a way, way, way nicer going horse without them.”
Bossence said P L Spencer’s next assignment will likely be against stakes colts in the Goodtimes at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
“He'll be in with some bear cats, so [McClure] will get to do what he wants. He'll be on a helmet next week with him when he runs in with the bear cats, for sure.”
In the second Gold test, Ritchie Rich led gate-to-wire through fractions of :28.2, :56.2 and 1:25.4 and pulled away in the stretch to win by 4-3/4 lengths over Gaslight Hall (Jody Jamieson) in 1:54.1.
Todd Ratchford drove Ritchie Rich (2-1) to victory on behalf of his family and was emotional in the winner’s circle while speaking to Rozema. The victory was the family’s first career victory at the Gold level.
“My family, my sister, my dad, my mom, they've all done an incredible job with him,” Ratchford said. “It's everything. That's why we do this sport, and that's why we love it, just for moments like these, and to have everyone here in the winner's circle, it's pretty amazing.”
The homebred son of Wheeling N Dealin out of Hola Lola bred by Cynthia Graham and William Woolfrey of Warkworth, Ont. is trained and owned, in part by Ratchford’s sister, Mary, who shares Ritchie Rich’s papers with Graham and Carolyn Jarrell of Roslin, Ont.
“I have total confidence in this horse,” Todd said. “He's done nothing but show me what he's able to do. So, I figured, if I can get [to the front] kind of easy I'll just keep driving… I thought someone might get close, but once I was down the stretch, I was like, ‘All right, it's game over.’”
Modelo Gold (Dagfin Henriksen) was third, Pierre In Paris (Trevor Henry) was fourth and favourite Galen Erso (Doug McNair) picked up the final cheque.
The victory more than doubled Ritchie Rich’s lifetime earnings to $83,750. The trotter is now 5-2-0 in 10 career starts and 4-2-0 in seven starts in 2025. The mile was just one-fifth-of-a-second off Ritchie Rich’s career best mile of 1:54 set on May 16 in an overnight at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Ontario Sires Stakes action at Mohawk continues with the Gold Series for three-year-old filly trotters on Friday, June 20 and Gold Series for three-year-old filly pacers on Saturday, June 21. On Friday, May 30, the Grassroots Series for three-year-old colt pacers will take place at The Raceway at Western Fair District followed by the Grassroots for three-year-old pacing fillies on Monday, June 16 and three-year-old pacing colts on Saturday, June 21, each at Mohawk.
In the lone Pop Up Series class for the Thursday card, Diamond Ryder ($7.40) won by 3-3/4 lengths in 1:53 to take home the lion's share of the $12,000 purse. Jody Jamieson piloted the Dali - Sambucas Credit four-year-old gelding for trainer Katarina Bosnjak and owner/breeder Jjs Stables of Grand Valley, Ont.
The Pop Up Series class was the first leg of the series for horses and geldings that fit a $20,000 claimer for non-winners of $25,000 or Ontario-sired $31,250 lifetime.
To view Thursday's harness racing results, click the following link: Thursday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(With files from Ontario Racing)