Milton, ON — This season’s top two sophomore pacing colts are set to clash in Saturday’s (Sept. 7) C$167,000 Simcoe Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Pepsi North America Cup winner Nijinsky and Meadowlands Pace winner Legendary Hanover lead a field of 11 for the Simcoe, one of six stakes on Saturday’s 12-race card. Both star colts are trained by Anthony Beaton and will meet for the first time since the Meadowlands Pace on July 13.
The score between the stablemates this season is 1-1, with each having taken one of the sport’s classic events for 3-year-old pacers.
Nijinsky sports a near-perfect record of eight wins from nine starts this season. The son of Bettor’s Delight has victories in the NA Cup, Somebeachsomewhere Stakes, OSS Gold Mid-Season Challenge and Meadowlands Pace elimination all to his name.
Louis-Philippe Roy will reunite with Nijinsky, starting from post eight for owners West Wins Stable, John Fielding and Mark Dumain.
Legendary Hanover is the sport’s fastest horse this season, having taken a mark of 1:46.2 in the Cane Pace on Aug. 3. The son of Huntsville was fourth in the NA Cup before winning four of his next five starts, including The Meadowlands Pace and Empire Breeders Classic.
With his speedy wins in the Meadowlands Pace and Cane, Legendary Hanover is the only 3-year-old pacer to have multiple wins faster than 1:47.
James MacDonald teams with Legendary Hanover from post six for owners Eric Good, West Wins Stable and Mark Dumain.
The C$167,000 Simcoe 3-Year-Old Open goes as race seven (9:32 p.m. ET).
Similar to the colts, the season’s leading 3-year-old pacing filly Its A Love Thing will also be in Simcoe Stakes action on Saturday.
The Dave Menary-trained Its A Love Thing will go for her eighth win in 10 starts this season, taking on seven rivals for a purse of C$152,000. The daughter of Bettor’s Delight has been cleaning up in both the Grand Circuit and Ontario Sires Stakes, earning $462,174 in 2024 for owners Eric Good, Thomas Biederman, Josh Green and Rich Lombardo Racing.
Its A Love Thing’s accomplishments this season includes victories in the Fan Hanover, Jerry Silverman Memorial, SBOA, multiple OSS Gold events and the Kentucky Sires Stakes.
James MacDonald partners with Its A Love Thing from post six.
The Simcoe 3-Year-Old Filly Pace is carded as race nine (10:16 p.m. ET).
The Grand Circuit action on Saturday also features a pair of divisions for both the Champlain 2-Year-Old Open Pace and Champlain 2-Year-Old Filly Pace.
Each division will go for north of $80,000 and they are carded as races two, three, six and eight.
Post time for the 12-race card is 7:10 p.m.
No eliminations needed for Milton; Twin B Joe Fresh leads field of six
Twin B Joe Fresh, the top-ranked Standardbred in the Hambletonian/Breeders Crown weekly poll, leads a talented group of six for the C$205,000 Milton Stakes on Sept. 14.
Eliminations were not required with six pacing mares entered for this year’s Milton.
Twin B Joe Fresh has been practically unstoppable this season, winning eight of nine starts, including all stakes races that she has entered. The Chris Ryder-trained 4-year-old won the Roses Are Red in June at Mohawk and has since added victories in the Perfect Sting, Dorothy Haughton Memorial, Lady Liberty and Cleopatra Invitational.
While Twin B Joe Fresh has hogged the top spot, the other five pacing mares entered in the Milton all sport impressive résumés.
Sylvia Hanover has been the main rival of Twin B Joe Fresh throughout their racing careers. The defending Canadian Horse of the Year has just one win in 10 starts this season, but was second in the Roses Are Red and Perfect Sting as part of five overall runner-up finishes.
The lone victory for Sylvia Hanover came in the Clara Barton Pace at Plainridge.
Millar Farms’ homebreds Silver Label and Prohibition Legal will take another crack at Twin B Joe Fresh for trainer Nick Gallucci. Silver Label was second and Prohibition Legal fourth in the Lady Liberty on Aug. 3.
Another 4-year-old in the mix is Always B Naughty. The Nancy Takter trainee won an elimination for the Roses Are Red back in June before finishing third in the final. A three-time winner this season, she enters off a strong 1:52.2 (:25.4 last quarter) qualifier on Aug. 30 at Mohawk.
Completing the six-pack for the Milton is local standout Tells On A Roll. The 4-year-old Indiana-bred has been this season’s top Preferred mare at Mohawk, posting 10 wins and 16 top-three finishes from 17 starts. The only time the Jodie Cullen trainee missed the top three was a fourth-place finish in the Roses Are Red.
Post positions for the Milton Stakes will be drawn this weekend.
The field of six is listed below in alphabetical order.
Always B Naughty
Prohibition Legal
Silver Label
Sylvia Hanover
Tells On A Roll
Twin B Joe Fresh