Another Great Mass won the action-packed $140,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Leg 2 Gold Series event for two-year-old trotting colts on Thursday, July 31 at Woodbine Mohawk Park one week after severe weather forced the postponement of the original date for the race.
The homebred son of Muscle Mass out of Incredibility, driven by Trevor Henry, held off a stretch cavalry charge to win by 1-1/4 lengths over Touchedbyanangel (Doug McNair) in a lifetime best 1:56.2 for trainer Ed Peconi, Jr. and owner/breeder Wade Peconi, the son of the trainer’s cousin, Nick Peconi (who has no connection to this horse).
Another Great Mass, sent off at 9-2, was second to In The Black in the first Gold event in the division on July 12 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. In The Black, sent off as the 8-5 favourite, was 10th in Thursday’s field of 11 that featured a trailer.
The action started at the gate when the trailer First Class Mass broke and Bob McClure left from the 10 hole with The Green Gazoo, but eventually relented to Another Great Mass out of the 6 hole. Another Great Mass took the field through the :27.2 first-quarter, briefly relented to Strobe Lite (Tyler Borth) through the :58.1 half and took the lead back through the 1:28.1 three-quarters.
In the stretch, plenty of the young trotters were game, but Henry’s colt held them off. Touchedbyanangel had broken equipment, but still finished second. D A Mastermind (Chris Christoforou) was third, followed by Taven On the Green (Louis-Philippe Roy) and Strobe Lite.
“My plan was to get a spot early,” Henry told Woodbine broadcaster John Rallis. “I didn’t know whether I’d land on the front or where I’d land, but I wanted to be up close. He’s a handy horse. You can do whatever you want with him and it just worked out that we got easy fractions and he out-trotted them for home.
“Late in the stretch, he got relaxed. I had him pretty much to sleep… he’s a pleasure to drive.”
Another Great Mass ($11) is now 2-2-0 in four career starts. The $70,000 payday boosted his bankroll to $113,500 lifetime.
“I never did rush him,” said Peconi Jr. “I schooled him a couple of times and it felt like he was getting to be a little bit hot, so I just backed off with him and brought him down [to Woodbine Mohawk Park].”
Up next in Ontario Sires Stakes action are the three-year-old colt pacers at Hiawatha Horse Park on Saturday, Aug. 2.
Jay and Bob McClure teamed up to win the $20,000 second leg of the Whenuwishuponastar Series for freshman pacing fillies with a score by three-quarters of a length in 1:53.2 over Brians Halo (Jody Jamieson) and Adina Hanover (Louis-Philippe Roy). Dr. Ian Moore trains the winner.
Wilma and James Mackenzie co-own the two-year-old Cattlewash-Jan filly with Paul Chapman. Jay won her second straight race in the series with a new career mark. Jay is a winner of $36,856 with a record of 2-0-1 in four starts. She paid $4.40 to win.
All She Can (Jody Jamieson) won the sole Pop-Up Series division, worth $10,000, for fillies and mares in for a tag of $8,000 who are non-winners of $5,000 their last five starts. Wayne Smith owns and trains the winning daughter of All Bets Off-Heavenly Killean, who paced her mile in 1:54, winning by a head.
To view Thursday's harness racing results, click the following link: Thursday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Ontario Racing & Standardbred Canada)