Rookie star Beau Jangles is now unbeaten through six career starts after powering to his fourth Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold victory of the year in the $140,000 fourth-leg event for freshman pacing colts and geldings on Friday, Aug. 29 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
It wasn’t a perfect trip in a strong field of nine, but driver Bob McClure didn’t appear overly concerned at any point in the mile, even with a four-horse cavalry charge close behind in the stretch. Starting from the rail the second week in a row, Beau Jangles got away fifth behind early action as longshot Windor (Doug McNair) grabbed the front in a :25.4 first quarter. Tilthecowscomehome (Jody Jamieson) left fourth position on the backstretch, and Beau Jangles shifted out to advance on his cover to the half in :55. Tilthecowscomehome took over past the midway point, and Beau Jangles cleared soon after on the last turn en route to three-quarters in 1:23. Despite two rivals in pursuit, McClure didn't lift a line on Beau Jangles, and the colt cruised home to score by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:51. Tilthecowscomehome nosed out Redland Rocket Man (Louis-Philippe Roy) for second.
“I kind of saw a bunch of them leaving, especially with [Beau Jangles] having the rail,” McClure told Woodbine broadcaster John Rallis. “From a driver's point of view… you don't want anybody parked. You just want clear sailing. And when Jody landed in front of me [with Tillthecowscomehome], I figured he was the best horse to follow. If Jody hadn’t moved, I'd have followed him the whole way, but when Jody moved, I didn't want to come first-up on him. So, we got stretched pretty hard to make the lead tonight.
“I’m not going to say I wasn't concerned at all, but when [Beau Jangles] landed on the front, he settled right in for me, and he had his ears up all the way down the stretch. I never asked him. He was just phenomenal, like he always is.”
Beau Jangles was bred by Tara Hills Stud of Port Perry, Ont. and sold for $90,278 out of the Preferred Equine consignment at the 2024 Harrisburg sale. He is owned by Graham Grace Stables LLC of Clifton, Va., Kiwi Stables LLC of La Plata, Md., and Bolton Stables of Clermont, Fla. Sent off at 1-5, Beau Jangles paid $2.70 for the win.
Through six perfect starts – all in Ontario – the imposing son of Cattlewash out of Mrs Major Hill already has earnings of $452,125. Beyond the four Gold victories, Beau Jangles has also won the $227,100 Battle of Waterloo at Grand River Raceway on Aug. 4 and the $117,150 Nassagaweya on Aug. 23 at Mohawk. He won previous Gold events on July 5, July 19 and Aug. 14, all at Mohawk.
“I've never had one that gives me as much confidence, mostly because you can do anything you want with him,” McClure said. “One thing is for sure, if he's ever in a bad spot, it’s the driver's fault, not his, because he's push-button. But you know, a true testament to him is he's had the rail two weeks in a row, and it doesn't faze him. The rail here is very hard for a two-year-old, any caliber of two-year-old, and with him, it's nothing. If I wanted to make the front in :25.4, I'm confident I could have, but I was just trying to find the path of least resistance and keep this guy as fresh as long as we can. He's got some big dances coming up. I'm looking forward to it.”
This week, Beau Jangles’ connections spoke to Ontario Racing about the colt’s origin story and about managing the pacer’s growing expectations. Beau Jangles is next expected to tackle Grand Circuit competition in the Sept. 13 eliminations for the $1 million Metro Pace at Mohawk.
Dr. Moore said Beau Jangles will now get a bit of a break before prepping for the Metro.
“He’s going to get probably, six, maybe seven days off in the paddock with no harness,” said Moore, adding that the other colts in the division are all getting better as the year progresses. “It’ll tighten up as the year goes along. It always does. And hopefully we can keep going on the same route that we're on now until the end of the year.”
The victory highlighted a triple on the 10-race program for Moore. The Hall-of-Fame conditioner also won with two other rookies: Odds On Bullfrog ($8.40), who broke his maiden in 1:53.1, and Battle of the Belles place finisher Lavender Seelster ($9.80), who won her second straight race in 1:53.1. The Cambridge, Ont.-based trainer is 32-for-164 this year, good for a win rate of 19.5 per cent.
Naughty Delight came from well off the pace and passed four horses in the stretch to post a 7-1 upset in the lone $140,000 OSS Gold Leg 4 event for two-year-old pacing fillies.
She sat last in the field of six for MacDonald through a :27.1 quarter provided by Th Check Me Out (Tyler Borth) and a :55.4 half set by Jen Tilly (Roy). She shifted out just before three-quarters in 1:23.3 and was fifth at the top of the stretch, but she soared down the lane with :26.3 speed home to nab Jen Tilly by a half-length in a career-best 1:51.2. Three-time Gold winner A Clean Deal (McNair) gained all the way to the wire after a first-over bid but was three-quarters of a length short in third.
The win was the first career Gold triumph for the daughter of Bettors Delight-Pleasant Yet Bad, who is now two-for-five lifetime for trainer Tony Beaton. She won her debut in the OSS Grassroots on July 7 and hit the board in her three next outings, including a place finish in the Eternal Camnation last out.
“I told a few of my buddies after her first qualifier that I thought [Naughty Delight] was the best one I went with,” MacDonald told Rallis. “She was getting really steppy and making breaks early, and Tony's done an unbelievable job, because early in the year, I was like, ‘Is this going to be an all-year thing, where I can't really drive her?’ and I had to race her off the pace a lot early. But it's paying off late, because she's got a big-time closing kick, and she loves to go by horses, obviously.
“She just gets a little better each time. She was not perfect, but you know, we're in the winner's circle of the Gold, so we can't complain too much.”
Bred by Winbak Farm, Naughty Delight was purchased for $54,054 at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. She is owned by Beaton of Waterdown, Ont., along with David Mercer of Westmount, N.S. and Tim Hayes of Midway, Ky. She has now earned $126,678.
Naughty Delight paid $16.10 for the win.
She was the second unique Gold leg winner of her division this season after A Clean Deal took the first three rounds.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Ontario Racing)
Beau Jangles
Not only is he undefeated, but Beau Jangles has won every race that he's been in by more than a length. It's quite unusual that he races in the OSS events because all of his connections live in the Southern USA, in MD, VA, and FL. And how many 2yos win the very first start of their career in 1:50.1???