Milton, ON — Rookie trotting colts contested their first Ontario Sires Stakes Gold series on Monday (July 4) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Mass Market won in a final time of 1:56.1. New Image Media photo.

In the C$70,533 first division a pair of Muscle Mass colts engaged in an exciting stretch duel with Mass Market taking advantage of a pocket trip to win by a neck over odds-on favorite Snowpiercer.

Trevor Henry settled Mass Market into second after leaving from the rail position and Paul MacDonell moved Snowpiercer to the front from post six and led for most of the mile, setting fractions of :29.1, :59.1, and 1:28.3 along the way.

Henry tipped out Mass Market as the pair entered the stretch and he moved in front just before the wire, winning in a final time of 1:56.1.

“I knew going into tonight he had a good shot. He’s a nice colt,” said Henry. “With Paul’s horse, it’s tough with a young horse on the front, they get a little green, and that’s probably the reason I picked him off late.”

Both colts showed strong closing speed, with final panels of :27.1 and :27.3, respectively.

Trainer John Bax was proud of Snowpiercer’s effort in just his second career start.

“He doesn’t know what he’s doing yet. He just looks like a big goofy kid out there,” said Bax. “They sprinted home, and he took him on. At some point you’d like to not be on the front end, and have him pick somebody off, but he looks like he’s going to be around all year.”

Trainer Robert McIntosh co-owns Mass Market with Douglas McIntosh and Randy Liepa. Bax Stable co-owns Snowpiercer with Brad Grant, David Anderson, and Richard Gutnick.

The Great Emotion rounded out the top three, closing in :27.1 for driver Louis-Philippe Roy. Cassandra Lecourt trains and owns the Lookslikeachpndale colt.

Bax got another trip from the front in the C$70,533 second Gold division, and the second time around 3-5 favorite Oh Look Magic won by 3-1/4 lengths over his nearest rival.

Doug McNair made a move with second-choice Osceola to challenge early, but the Muscle Mass colt went off-stride in his attempt and James MacDonald piloted Oh Look Magic to fractions of :28.2, :59.2, and 1:28.2, before closing in :28.3 for the gate-to-wire win.

The Lookslikeachpndale gelding has now led at the quarter-mile marker in both his pari-mutuel efforts, and lone qualifier.

“I think it showed tonight that he’d been to the front, because he wanted to go there again,” said Bax. “Going forward we are going to have to work on that.”

Bax Stable owns the gelding with Glengate Farms and The Cavalier Stable.

A pair of longshots finished second and third. Jody Jamieson piloted 28-1 shot Passarino to a closing panel of :27.2 to overtake 64-1 third-place finisher Airborne in the stretch.

The C$71,434 final Gold division went in race seven, where Dowedealinandwhy was victorious.

Sent off as the odds-on favorite, the Wheeling N Dealin gelding was guided to the early pocket position by Sylvain Filion after leaving from the rail. The Rob Fellows trainee sat behind Deadline Hall who Chris Christoforou sent to the early lead from post eight. Deadline Hall set a first panel of :29 and Filion moved Dowedealinandwhy just past the quarter-mile marker with a strong first up move.

“Any time you have the rail with a 2-year-old trotter, you don’t know how they are going to act,” said Fellows. “We were cautious because you don’t want to get away fifth and come first up for a half-mile. It was more of a see what happens.”

After a soft second panel of :31.2, Lookslikeadream tried to overtake the leader, but Dowedealinandwhy was up for the challenge and powered home in :27.2 for a winning time of 1:58.

“(Sylvain) cut out very nice fractions for him, and he was able to sprint in the lane,” said Fellows. “Now it’s all about keeping him healthy and sound for the rest of the season.”

Dowedealinandwhy now has two wins from two starts and C$43,717 in earnings for owners Yolanda Fellows and Irene Carey.

John Bax’s strong night continued with Deadline Hall’s runner-up finish. Templeton was third for trainer Jonas Czernyson.