Milton, ON – Verily smashed the Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) record for 2-year-old trotting fillies, previously shared by four fillies, with a 1:53 score in the first of two C$100,000 OSS Gold Leg 5 events on Friday (Oct. 2) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Fellow division leader Major Contender won the second Gold test in 1:54.1.
In the first division (race 2), 2-5 favorite Verily (Louis-Philippe Roy) converted a perfect pocket trip into a three-quarters-of-a-length victory over Northernlights Glo (Daryl Thiessen).
Northernlights Glo, the 4-1 second choice, led the field of seven through fractions of :27.4, :56 and 1:24.1, but was out-duelled by Verily in the stretch, who set a career best and shattered the previous OSS mark of 1:53.4 shared by Bee A Magician (2012), Lil Sweet (2024), Bingo Night (2025) and Rebel Moon (2026).
Jyn Erso (Doug McNair) was third, followed by Rebel Moon (James MacDonald) and Treasure King (Jody Jamieson).
Verily paid $2.90 to win.
Watch the race replay here.
It was the third Gold victory of the year for Verily, a daughter of Muscle Mass out of Yen owned by Bill Donovan, bred by Overseas Farms Ltd. of Cambridge, ON and trained by Meg Crone.
Verily, purchased for C$85,000 at the 2025 London Classic Yearling Sale, is now 3-2-1 in seven career starts and has earnings of C$256,575.
“She’s just very well-mannered,” Crone told Woodbine broadcaster Randy Waples. “Nothing stresses her. When she was in the retention barn, she was great. She ate, she drank well, she was never bothered a bit. She’s always been really smart, too.”
In the second division (race 8), 1-5 favorite Major Contender posted her third Gold victory of the year, holding off Queen Of Bs (Chris Christoforou) by a neck.
It was also the third straight victory for the daughter of King Of The North out of Major Muscle owned by her trainer, Carl Jamieson, her driver, Jody Jamieson, David Lemon and George Harrison.
Simea (Trevor Henry) led the field through fractions of :28, :57.2 and 1:25.3, with Major Contender in the pocket the entire way. Major Contender took command at the top of the stretch. Shortly thereafter, Simea made a break leaving Major Contender and Queen of Bs to battle the rest of the way.
R Rosie (McNair) was third, followed by Dreamtrade (Bob McClure) and Flawless Lady (MacDonald).
“They trotted :54 tonight, which I think was a huge effort,” Jody told Woodbine broadcaster John Rallis. “They had three weeks between starts. You know, a week off, a little respite there in the middle… it’s tough to keep them sharp all year long with the weather changes and stuff like that.
“This filly’s just been a really good doer the whole time, and I think we got the right division to go in [tonight]. The other one went :53 with Verily. She was a monster, and then Northernlights Glo was awesome again, too. It’s a hell of a division… These fillies are tough.”
Major Contender paid $2.60 to win.
Watch the race replay here.
Major Contender, bred by Princeton Farms, Mark Etsell, Robert Newton and Chuan Tan, was purchased for $110,000 at the 2025 Standardbred Horse Sales Company yearling auction in Harrisburg, PA.
She is now 4-2-0 in nine career starts and has earnings of C$255,033.
The top 10 in the 2-year-old trotting filly division are:
- Major Contender – 176
- Verily – 176
- Rebel Moon – 125
- Queen Of Bs – 125
- Treasure King – 70
- Northernlights Glo – 69
- Flawless Lady – 67
- Song From Heaven – 47
- R Rosie – 48
- Simea – 45