Milton, ON – Minutes after keeping Beau Jangles perfect both through 10 career starts and all six of his Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) events, driver Bob McClure stood in the paddock dripping mud and contemplating the karma of how he arrived here with this superstar 2-year-old pacing colt, who dominated his C$300,000 OSS Gold Super Final on Friday (Oct. 10) in a downpour.
Just when he decided to stop traveling to be home more for his kids, Beau Jangles landed in his lap precisely because another driver, Louis-Philippe Roy, was away racing horses at The Meadowlands. Roy was originally trainer Dr. Ian Moore’s choice to drive the son of Cattlewash out of Mrs Major Hill.
“I spent the last six, seven years doing a lot of traveling, probably more than anybody in this drivers’ colony, with Determination and Sylvia Hanover,” McClure said. “It was difficult because you do lose a lot of the local horses and the provincial horses. People understandably want a driver they know is going to be here.
“I made a commitment at the start of this year that I didn’t want to travel anymore. I wanted to be home more with my kids. And, you know, the time at home was definitely worth the decision, but Beau Jangles was really worth the decision.
“Maybe it’s karma. Maybe it’s not, I don’t know. You take the good fortune, and you do the best you can with it. But I think anybody, anybody in the top 100 drivers in North America could have sat behind this guy and done exactly the same thing.”
That might be a stretch. McClure has driven Beau Jangles perfectly. But, there’s no denying the pacer is an other-worldly talent.
On Friday, McClure put the colt on the lead from the rail and led the field through easy fractions of :26.1, :55.3 and 1:24, coming home in :26.4 to win by 2-1/2 lengths over Windor (Doug McNair) in 1:50.4 on a track rate good.
Sent off at 1-9, Beau Jangles paid $2.10 to win.
The victory pushed Beau Jangles earnings to C$1.19 million ($866,130 USD) for the colt’s U.S. owners: Adam Ainspan and Mary Beth Roberts under the Graham Grace Stables LLC of Clifton, Va.; Anne Hooper and Jonathan Roberts under the Kiwi Stables LLC of La Plata, Md.;
Ed, Garth and Philip Bolton, plus John Draper of the Bolton Stables of Clermont, Fla.
Bred by Tara Hill Stud in Port Perry, Ont., where Cattlewash also stands, Beau Jangles was purchased for $65,000 at last year’s Standardbred Horse Sales Company yearling auction in Harrisburg, Pa.
The winner of the $1 million Grade 1 Metro Pace at Mohawk in September, Beau Jangles is now scheduled to take on Grand Circuit horses again in the Breeders Crown at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Eliminations are next weekend, and Beau Jangles is raring to go.
“We had to put a mini bit in him tonight,” Moore said of the colt, who was a handful in the winner’s circle. “When I trained him on Tuesday, he was a handful for me then too. So, we probably going to try earplugs next week.”
Moore said it was the first time he’s had a horse sweep all five OSS Gold legs and the Super Final.
Before Beau Jangles came into his life, the trainer had planned to retire at the end of this season, proving the colt had gifted him with some serious karma, as well.
For complete Ontario Sire Stakes recaps from Friday’s Super Finals, visit Standardbred Canada here.