John Pentland trainee Redland Rocket Man fired off a pocket trip to a world-record-equalling 1:46.4 mile when scoring in the Grade 3 $140,000 Simcoe Stakes for three-year-olds on Saturday, Sept. 12 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Leaving from post four, driver Jody Jamieson jetted Redland Rocket Man to the top and yielded for a pocket ride once Beau Jangles (James MacDonald) loomed up the outside through a :26.2 first quarter. Jamieson tracked Beau Jangles to a :53.3 half and swung out of the pocket passing three-quarters in 1:20.4. Redland Rocket Man surged past Beau Jangles upon straightening for home and paced sturdily to the line chased home by Sweet Lovin Lou (Louis-Philippe Roy) in second, beaten 1-3/4 lengths. Beau Jangles settled for third.
“If we’re being honest with ourselves, I think we were trying to be second to Beau Jangles in here, the way he came back and raced so great last week,” Jamieson said after the race. “I think he came sub-26 as well to beat us (last time). But tonight I reversed it; I got to sit on somebody’s back and it happened to be Beau. I thought around the last turn ‘I’ve got a lot of horse here. But it’s Beau, so he’s going to go.’ But then when I came out, I knew I had Beau immediately, and this horse just paced to the wire. I wasn’t even paying attention to the fractions, and when it flashed up [1:]46.4 I thought ‘Wow.’ Just wow.”
Redland Rocket Man crushed the previous stakes record of 1:48.2 set in 2015 by Artspeak. He also lowered the previous track and Canadian record for sophomore pacing geldings of 1:47.4 set in 2023 by Its My Show while becoming the fastest three-year-old in Canadian history. He also equalled the world record for three-year-old pacing geldings, set by Its My Show at The Red Mile in 2023, with his second win from 12 starts this season and his fifth win from 24 starts in his career.
“He was raced right,” Pentland said of the gelding’s development. “We’re more than halfway through the season, and when Jody unleashed him in Grand River (on Aug. 3), I think the horse was ready for it and he’s showing it. That’s four big starts in a row for him. I’m absolutely thrilled and shocked at getting a track record. When it popped up there, I thought ‘did they beat [1:]48?’ I didn’t know about [1:]46. He’s just a great horse.”
Pentland co-owns Redland Rocket Man, a gelding by Bulldog Hanover-Granny Hanover, with partners Murray Cox of Rockwood, Ont. and Gary Volpe of St Thomas, Ont. The gelding has earned $523,885 in his career. He paid $12.70 to win.
Pentland earned another stakes win earlier in the card when Bulldog Hanover-Gallie Beach filly Jersey Bulldog rolled down the road as the odds-on favourite to win the second $86,000 Champlain dash for freshman pacing fillies. Bob McClure coasted on the point with Jersey Bulldog through a clip of :27.3, :57 and 1:25.1 before crossing the beam under wraps a 1-3/4-length winner over Boardwalk Babe (Tyler Borth) in a 1:51.1 mile. Mauritius (Trevor Henry) gave pursuit from third.
“She was just kind of built like a three-year-old right away and she was very mature,” McClure said after the race. “John’s really good about never stressing them, never asking for speed. He’s had a lot of success doing it that way, so you never know how much speed they have until they get to the races. This filly, it took a few starts for her to find that high gear, but once she found it the strength never went away, the gait never went away. She’s been a real pro since day one.
“I never really asked her, just kept her attention. She did get easy fractions, everything her own way, but she still had to finish the job. She was super strong to the wire, and one thing about John – he’s very good at keeping them fresh through the whole season.”
Pentland co-owns Jersey Bulldog with Sherri Sumner of Dorchester, Ont., Jack Darling Stables Ltd. of Cambridge, Ont. and Alan Alber of Thornhill, Ont. The filly notched her fourth win from nine starts, pushing her career bankroll to $206,720. She returned $2.30 to win.
Qued Up opened the stakes action on Saturday night with a stakes-record performance in the first of two $86,000 divisions of the Champlain Stakes for two-year-old pacing fillies. After drafting behind pacesetter Money Carlo (Mark MacDonald) through fractions of :27, :56 and 1:23.2, driver Louis-Philippe Roy lifted Qued Up from the pocket to a one-length victory in a 1:49.4 mile. That clocking eclipsed the thrice-matched stakes mark of 1:50.2 established in 2012 by Captive Audience and equalled from 2022 to 2023 by Sylvia Hanover, Pass Line and Its a Love Thing. Money Carlo settled for second with Aceandaten (Doug McNair) third.
“I was just happy with the way the trip was going with a slow half,” Roy said after the race. “Usually the one on the front or near the front has the advantage there. I knew the one on the front’s a pretty nice filly. Mine started feeling really good, so I kind of took a shot. I was lucky to be able to move out late and never have to use my filly except for the last sprint.”
Kyle Fellows trains Qued Up, a Cattlewash-Misqued filly, for owners N. Yolanda Fellows of Rockwood, Blair Corbeil of Leduc, Alta., Windermere Stable LLC of New York, N.Y. and James Ross of Wingham, Ont. The filly has now won two times from eight starts and has banked $97,550. She paid $13.60 to win.
Dr. Ian Moore pupil Cattletracks capitalized on quick fractions from a stalking trip to nab a career-best win in the lone $157,999 division of the Champlain Stakes for pacing two-year-olds. Louis-Philippe Roy secured a mid-pack seat for Cattletracks to follow :25.4 and :53.2 splits cut from a battle between Mascarpone (Travis Cullen) and Global Choice (Mark MacDonald). Global Choice persisted while parked the first three-eighths to take the lead, but Mascarpone swiftly tipped from the pocket to attack around the last turn. Roy floated out to race behind Yes I Am Hanover (Bob McClure) on the rim and fanned towards the grandstand side rounding three-quarters in 1:22. Cattletracks soared through the stretch and kicked for a 3-1/2-length win while odds-on favourite Atlas Ross (Doug McNair) rallied from farther back for second. No More Exs (Jody Jamieson) finished third.
“He’s been getting better every week,” Moore said. “And most recently, I put earplugs in him tonight so he could race from off the pace. When you look in the program, the first few lines he went down the road a bit, and once he got fired up it was hard for Louis to do anything else with him. But boy, that was a really good trip tonight. I was really pleased with it all. I trained him this week and he trained super good. I’ve been training him from behind, and I think he’s learning. We had a lot of problems with him in the spring, but everything’s settled down now and it’s all good, so we’re looking forward to the next few races.”
A colt by Cattlewash-Ballineen, Cattletracks has now won three races from six starts and earned $123,960 for owners Sally MacDonald of Souris, P.E.I. and Paul MacDonald of Toronto, Ont. He paid $13.20 to win.
Touchedbyanangel posted a 1:52.1 career-best win and pushed his lifetime earnings to $499,064 in the lone $150,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold fifth-leg division for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings.
Sent off as 9-5 second choice in the field of six, Touchedbyanangel and red-hot driver Doug McNair left with authority, wer on top soon after, and then led the group through fractions of :27.2, :56.4 and 1:25.1. Strobe Lite (James MacDonald), the 2-5 favourite, sat fourth before making his move at the half. He crept up to second and threatened to go past Touchedbyanangel in the stretch, but McNair’s colt rebuffed the challenge to win by a head. Stormont Shanlyboy (Tyler Jones) was third
“[Touchedbyanangel is] a funny horse sometimes to drive,” McNair told Woodbine broadcaster John Rallis. “He doesn't really love the front. James knows that, so I figured once I made the lead, he was going to let me get away with as soft of fractions as I wanted to go because he can usually beat me when I'm in the front and he’s first up. In the last turn, usually I try to get away from him. Today, I just kind of let him float up to my wheel, and my horse just felt a lot braver. He raced great, and he kicked home well, for him.”
The Gold victory was the second this year for the gelded son of Archangel out of Rubys Are Nice, who won the first leg back on May 24. Touchedbyanangel improved to 4-3-4 in 13 starts this year and 6-4-4 in 25 lifetime outings for owner/breeder Corbeil and his ownership partners Yolanda Fellows, Mike McAllister of Beaumont, Alta. and Peter Porter of Port Dover, Ont.
The Kyle Fellows-trained Touchedbyanangel paid $5.70 to win. There was no show wagering.
McNair also won the $44,000 Open Pace as he drove Crack Shot to a career-best 1:47.4 score.
Crack Shot started third from the pylon post but was in the breeze before a :26.2 quarter and brushed to the top on the backstretch. He rolled to the midway point in :54 and was forced to bolt on the final turn as Sugar Man (James MacDonald), last week's Open winner, charged forward going to three-quarters in 1:21.2. Crack Shot repelled Sugar Man down the lane, then dug in to withstand Dalton Shard N (Tyler Borth) by a half-length. Sugar Man completed the top three.
Triple OSS champion Crack Shot has transitioned to aged company with aplomb, winning three Opens this year and compiling a five-for-13 record. The Gregg McNair trainee is now 16-for-37 lifetime and has earned $893,453. The conditioner co-owns the son of Bettors Delight-Beautyonthebeach with Dale Hunter of London, Ont., Frank Brundle of East Garafraxa, Ont. and George Kerr of Gowanstown, Ont. Crack Shot returned $4.40 at the mutuels.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Woodbine & Ontario Racing & Standardbred Canada)