The reigning Canadian and U.S. Horse of the Year has not had the kind of year many expected, but his connections are taking it in stride and thinking the colt may be primed for a comeback.
That Beau Jangles’ sophomore season has been less-than-perfect is obvious.
But his trainer, Dr. Ian Moore, said that neither negates a fantastic and unblemished two-year-old season that earned the Ontario-sired colt Horse of the Year honours in both Canada and the United States, nor is it an indication of what the rest of 2026 holds for big 'Beau.'
But it has been challenging for all involved.
On Sunday, Aug. 30, Beau Jangles surpassed $2 million in career earnings with his first pari-mutuel win in his last seven starts. But it was how the son of Cattlewash out of Mrs Major Hill won that $150,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold event that has his connections optimistic that the colt may be on the verge of a comeback. James MacDonald raced Beau Jangles out of a hole and came home in :25.1 to record a 1:48.3 triumph that equalled the lifetime mark 'Beau' set winning the $959,000 Breeders Crown (Grade 1) last October.
Yes, Sunday’s Gold event was only a five-horse field. Yes, it was restricted to Ontario-sired horses. Yes, it was on his home turf at Woodbine Mohawk Park. But Moore said the performance was Beau Jangles’ best all year – and despite the colt’s challenges, he has won four of his 10 starts and earned nearly $350,000 in 2026. That’s hardly peanuts.
In fact, the trainer is taking Beau Jangles’ imperfect season in stride. He’s been through this before with two-year-olds that reached the stratosphere only to come down to earth during their three-year-old seasons.
“We’re dealing with an animal,” said Moore.
It should be noted that Moore did repeatedly warn us last year in interviews that two-year-old success is not a guarantee of future results.
In a story published a year ago, before Beau Jangles defeated Grand Circuit competition in both the $1 million Metro Pace (Grade 1) and the $959,000 Breeders Crown (Grade 1), Moore, majority owner Adam Ainspan of the Graham Grace Stable of Virginia, and co-owner Jonathan Roberts of the Kiwi Stables of Maryland, which also shares the colt with Bolton Stables of Florida, all pointed to previous horses they’ve had that seemed virtually invincible, only to learn the hard way there is no such animal.
As such, they all stressed they were not taking Beau Jangles’ success for granted.
Moore also openly cautioned last year that more than 10 starts for a two-year-old can be tough on even the most talented horse. Last year, due to the fact the Breeders Crown was on home turf at Mohawk , Beau Jangles started 12 times.
As for what has gone wrong, Moore said on Monday, Aug. 31 that he thinks Beau’ Jangles' challenges started last year.
“He had some little medical issues, but nothing serious,” said Moore. “But what I’m talking about is he was a two-year-old that was raced hard and raced long, well into the season. I’ve had several of those before. A prominent one I can remember was Malicious, who was second or third best in North America [in 2009]… He won an elimination of the Governor’s Cup, won an elimination of the Metro, won all the Dream Makers -- there were divisions of it that year -- and so on. But, as a three-year-old, in late July, I had to take him up to Hanover [Raceway] to get his first win of the year [in his seventh start]. He set the track record there, and it’s still there for three-year-olds, 1:53.2.
“Somebeachsomewhere, as a two-year-old, raced six times and was shut down. He came back as a great three-year-old. I watched Frantic Hanover at Pocono last week when we were there. He’s zero-for-nine this year, and made $90,000. Last year, he was second in the Metro [and earned nearly $750,000]. You could say he was the second best two-year-old last year. He hasn’t had a win [this year]. He’s another example of a horse that raced long and hard [at two].
“The other thing is, last year, 'Beau' was a fully-developed, mature animal, where some of the other ones were growing, developing two-year-old babies. So, it’s all there. There are lots of reasons for me.”
This year, Beau Jangles started out promising enough. He won his first three starts to extend his unbeaten streak to 15 and then suffered his first career defeat in the eliminations for the Pepsi North America Cup – finishing third behind eventual Cup champ Odds On Mr Mamba and future Meadowlands Pace champ Brandon Blvd. It was the same order of finish in the $1 million final, with the three horses separated by very little.
In Beau Jangles’ next start, an OSS Gold event on June 27, the horse clearly was not himself, fading in the stretch to finish fifth.
It was then discovered that Beau Jangles had a lung infection. Moore, who is also a veterinarian, gave the horse a month off to recover.
“When we stopped with him for a while [this year], he had a lung infection,” said Moore. “That’s not a lie. We treated that, got him over it, and he had a few ulcers too, and we got rid of those, too. Whether or not that was there when he raced in the North America Cup, I can’t tell you.”
Beau Jangles returned to action in a Gold on Aug. 3 at Grand River Raceway. The short version is it was a tough trip and Beau Jangles finished sixth, 14-1/4 lengths behind the winner, Redland Rocket Man.
By most accounts, that was rock bottom for the once mighty Beau Jangles. After that, driver Todd McCarthy took over from Bob McClure, the only driver Beau Jangles had ever had in pari-mutuel competition.
“We’ve been doing different things lately, and I’m not going to comment on [the driver change],” Moore said, adding he is remaining silent on details out of respect for all the drivers involved. “They’re professionals and so am I.”
Now that Beau Jangles was healthy, the plan, in part, was to rebuild the colt’s confidence.
“I think the first time or two that he got beat, I kind of think [it shook his confidence],” said Moore. “Though, it’s kind of hard to tell with him… because he is the same every day. It’s hard to pick out subtle or minute differences with him… but I do think that [losing] bothered him quite a bit in the elimination and the final [of the North America Cup]. He raced really well, but it bothered him, and he became a one-dimensional horse, and that hurt him, too. I had trained him all winter long sitting in a hole. I would rarely cut a mile with him because I was anticipating different circumstances this year.”
McCarthy raced Beau Jangles in an overnight on Aug. 15, finishing fifth (race timed in 1:49.1 with a :26 last quarter), and then again in the $300,000 Max Hempt Memorial (Grade 2) at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, finishing sixth in his first career race in the United States (race timed in 1:48.4 with a :26.4 final frame). This past Sunday, with McCarthy committed to drive in Kentucky, James MacDonald agreed to drive Beau Jangles for the first time and orchestrated the colt’s first victory in 14 weeks.
Ainspan, who also owns Thoroughbreds, noted that Beau Jangles’ final quarter of :25.1 was faster than the final quarter of :25.95 in the $1.25 million USD Travers (Grade 1) won by Leading Change at Saratoga the day prior.
On Sunday night, Ainspan said the first text he received after Beau Jangles’ victory was from McClure offering hearty congratulations.
Like Moore, Ainspan is a veterinarian. He said he didn’t expect Beau Jangles to remain perfect or thoroughly dominate through his three-year-old season. That would have been highly improbable.
“[This season is] kind of what I expected, to be quite honest with you,” said Ainspan. “I really didn’t think it would be perfect, and Doc did a great job, I think, medically. The whole team stayed together. No finger pointing. Everybody from Bob McClure to everybody else that’s driven him to Ian to the ownership team has professionally dealt with an issue that came up that in my mind wasn’t unexpected. I knew he would put a big race together, eventually, like he did. And I think there’s a good chance he’ll be even better going forward, but I can’t say there won’t be a step backwards. It’s horse racing, the horses are living things, they’re not machines.”
As for the pressure of managing a potentially lucrative stallion and trying to further the legacy Beau Jangles established as a two-year-old, Moore chuckled.
“I’m 72 years old, so I should know how to handle pressure by now,” he said, adding he’s not one of Beau Jangles’ owners and left stallion discussions to those who do own him. “It doesn’t put any pressure on me. I’ve been in that situation before. Though, perhaps not with this much money on the table, but I didn’t have anything to do with that… other than indirectly in terms of the horse itself.
“All I can do is the best I can in an honest and ethical manner for every owner that I have.”
Moore said he tries to stay off social media. When told that Beau Jangles’ less-than-optimal three-year-old season, to date, has some of the colt’s critics questioning whether the pacer should have been the Horse of the Year last year – particularly from those that were against a two-year-old that never left Canada winning top honours in the first place – Moore doesn’t hesitate: “That’s total horses--t, in my opinion,” he said. “He’s the champion, period. He was one of the best two-year-olds of all time.”
You can hear his ire and competitive spirit rising.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could finish the year well now and make them eat it,” Moore said of the colt’s critics, before he softened somewhat to provide a realistic assessment for the rest of Beau Jangles’ sophomore season.
“I would hope that he would get back in the winner’s circle again a few more times before the season’s out, and perhaps win a big race or two,” said Moore. “I’m not going to expect that he’s going to go undefeated for the rest of the year. I don’t think any of us are at this point. We might hope that he is, but we’re not going to expect it. But, as long as he continues to race well [that’s enough]. He showed us a whole different racing protocol [Sunday] night… That was his best race all year, even though he won his first three.”
Ainspan looked at the Mohawk transponder data and was astounded Beau Jangles finished the race at 36 miles per hour.
“The most exciting thing about the race was not just the way he finished in :25 flat, it was a stride at the end,” said Ainspan. “It was even better than at any point last year.”
For the rest of the year, Ainspan said he’d love for Beau Jangles to win the OSS Super Final for the Ontario fans that love him, and then win a big race or two in the U.S., maybe even repeat in the Breeders Crown.
“If he could put in some great performances in America and win the [Super Final] for the Canadian fans, I think he would cement himself in the hearts of the Canadian fanbase and with the breeders, and I think it would do a lot in America, as well.
“I’ll tell you what, there’s nothing better than a comeback story.”
(Ontario Racing)