from the Ontario Sire Stakes
Toronto, ON — Shadow Moon and Jimmy Freight earned their second Gold Series wins at Mohawk Racetrack on Saturday evening (Sept. 9), putting a little distance between themselves and their 2-year-old pacing colt peers in the division point race.
In the first C$97,200 Gold contest driver Trevor Henry sent Shadow Moon directly to the front from post seven and the pair led the field through fractions of :27.1, :56.4 and 1:24.4. In the stretch it appeared that fan favorite Declan Seelster would collar Shadow Moon, but the pacesetter dug in for a neck victory in 1:53. Declan Seelster and Avalon Hanover, both trained by Dave Menary finished second and third.
“I said to Trevor, ‘He all right’, because he almost got beat there, and Trevor said, ‘Well he kind of waits for them’. He watches for them, he turns his head and watches for them. He has a Murphy blind on the outside and he likes to take them on when they come,” said trainer Dr. Ian Moore of Shadow Moon’s narrow victory.
“He’s like that when I’m out jogging, if somebody comes along in a hurry, he’ll take them on jogging.”
The win was Shadow Moon’s second in Gold Series action and his fifth of the season. His only loss came in the Aug. 19 Gold leg when he was caught at the wire by Declan Seelster. In addition to his Gold victories the Shadow Play son captured a Grassroots trophy in his July 10 debut and a division of the Nassagaweya Stakes on Aug. 26.
“He’s just gotten better and better over time. He’s only a little guy, he’s not real big, but he has the desire and grit to go,” said Dr. Moore of the Gold Series point leader. “He’s about the same size as ($2 million winner) State Treasurer was as a 2-year-old, he’s got the same kind of attitude as him, so hopefully that will carry him a long way.”
Dr. Moore shares ownership of Shadow Moon with R G McGroup, Serge Savard and Gordon McComb. The partners offered up $60,000 for the youngster at last fall’s Standardbred Horse Sale and have recouped C$195,337 to date. Shadow Moon will make his seventh lifetime start in the Metro Pace eliminations at Mohawk next Saturday (Sept. 16).
“We’re very happy and we are going to try the Metro,” said Dr. Moore. “That was six races tonight, so hopefully there’s a couple more in him.
“It’s hard to keep them going at that level for that long, I’ve always found anyways. When I think about it, I’ve only had one horse that was as good at the end of Nov. as he was the first of May, and that was Shadow Play,” added the horseman, who trained sire Shadow Play through his C$1.5 million racing career.
Saturday’s outing was rival Jimmy Freight’s ninth of the season, and marked his seventh trip to the winner’s circle. The son of Sportswriter started his career with five starts on the Iowa fair circuit, winning all five, and since being purchased by Adriano Sorella and arriving at Mohawk he has tallied two Gold Series wins, a third-place finish to Declan Seelster and Shadow Moon in the Aug. 19 Gold Leg and a runner-up finish behind Shadow Moon in an Aug. 11 overnight.
In Saturday’s C$96,400 Gold split, regular reinsman Jonathan Drury sent Jimmy Freight to the front from post four and faced immediate pressure from favorite Western Passage and driver Yannick Gingras. Drury opted to drive on and Jimmy Freight paced through fractions of :27.1, :55.2 and 1:24.1 on his way to a 1-1/2 length win in 1:52.3. Simple Kinda Man closed hard to be second and Sharp Action Money was third, giving sire Sportswriter a sweep of the top three.
“His (Gingras’) horse got running out pretty good in the first turn there and didn’t really want to clear, so I figured I might as well keep going. I was able to get a little breather in the third quarter and I think that helped a lot,” said Drury of the colt’s winning effort. “He’s a real handy little fella, you can get out of there quick with him and he just settles right down as soon as you clear and you can do whatever you want.”
The win bumped Jimmy Freight’s lifetime earnings to C$118,526 and his Gold Series point tally to 112, 13 points behind Shadow Moon and 37 ahead of Declan Seelster.
The 2-year-old pacing colts will wrap up their Gold Series regular season at The Raceway at Western Fair District on Oct. 3 and the top 10 point earners from the five regular season events will advance to the C$225,000 Super Final at Mohawk on Oct. 14.
Ontario Sires Stakes action continues at the Campbellville oval on Monday (Sept. 11) with two Grassroots divisions for the 3-year-old pacing colts. The first race goes in behind the starting gate at 7:30 p.m. and the sophomore pacing colts will compete in races four and seven.