Undefeated two-year-old colt Stockade Seelster streaked to his fifth consecutive victory on Friday evening (Aug. 19) at Woodbine Mohawk Park, winning the $158,100 third Gold leg of the Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) season.
Stockade Seelster entered Friday's showdown tied atop the OSS standings with Write Me A Rose -- each with a pair of Gold wins in the opening legs -- and pulled ahead with his latest 1:52 triumph.
Driver Jody Jamieson left from post five with Stockade Seelster and after the outside leavers traded turns on the front, the 1-9 favourite took over command at the :26.3 quarter mark and opened up a quick five-length lead down the backstretch. His rivals chased him to the half in :55.4 and three-quarters in 1:24.2 but couldn't catch the perfect colt, who won by a length at the end over 20-1 shot Ace Of Aces (James MacDonald) with 8-1 second choice Write Me A Rose (Sylvain Filion) third in his first career loss.
Fresh off a victory in the final of the Dream Maker Series last Saturday, Stockade Seelster paid $2.10 to win in the field reduced to eight with Moment Is Here a late vet scratch lame.
Dr. Ian Moore trains the State Treasurer-Soiree Seelster colt, who was a $45,000 yearling purchase at the London Selected Sale and has banked $237,600 through his first five starts for owners Sally MacDonald of Souris, P.E.I. and Paul MacDonald of Toronto, Ont.
“It’s always nice to have the opportunity to train a son or a daughter of a good horse that you had years ago,” said Moore, who guided State Treasurer through his $2 million career. The Cambridge, Ont. resident added that, through the early stages of his career, Stockade Seelster has a great deal in common with his sire. “He got real aggressive after two races and his father did the same, but this guy is a fairly intelligent colt. His father was kind of a bit of a runaway at the end of his two-year-old year, but this guy seems to be coming around.
“Jody has done well with him. He was aggressive again tonight in the race. He [Jamieson] couldn’t really put him in a hole, but he did kind of come back to him in the third quarter, that’s what he said. He was all fire up to the half and then he came back to him in the third quarter.”
Stockade Seelster, who is eligible to the Metro Pace, is primed for a rigorous schedule ahead.
After a few days of well-earned rest this week, he will resume training in preparation for the next Gold leg on Sept. 3 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Following that outing, the colt will compete in the Champlain Stakes on Sept. 10 and the Metro Pace eliminations on Sept. 17, with hopes of advancing to the $850,000 final on Sept. 24. The Gold Series regular season wraps up on Oct. 2 at Flamboro Downs and the $225,000 Super Final, for the top 10 Gold Series point-earners, is on Oct. 15 at Mohawk.
“That’s what we’re kind of striving for at this point but, like any two-year-old, they’re always day-to-day and week-to-week. You make plans, but two-year-olds often disrupt those plans,” said Moore. “But no matter what happens, he’s got close to a quarter-million made this year now and we’re very, very pleased. His owners were all there tonight. Sally and Allan MacDonald came up from P.E.I. and Paul MacDonald and Sophie were here as well.”
Stockade Seelster's win was one of three on the 11-race card for Moore, who finished 1-2 in the fourth race with three-year-old pacing fillies Got The Gold ($10.90, Doug McNair) and I Love Ongait (Chris Christoforou), and also scored with Got Sexy Scars ($6, James MacDonald) in the 10th race.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(With files from OSS)