Woodbine Mohawk Park: Another Great Mass tallies in OSS Gold Series

Another Great Mass won the action-packed C$140,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Series event for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings on Thursday (July 31) at Woodbine Mohawk Park one week after severe weather forced the postponement of the original date for the race.

The homebred son of Muscle Mass-Incredibility, driven by Trevor Henry, held off a stretch cavalry charge to win by 1 1/4 lengths over Touchedbyanangel (Doug McNair) in a lifetime best 1:56 2/5 for trainer Ed Peconi Jr. and owner/breeder Wade Peconi, the son of the trainer's cousin, Nick Peconi (who has no connection to this horse).

Another Great Mass, sent off at 9-2, was second to In The Black in the first Gold event in the division on July 12 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. In The Black, sent off as the 8-5 favorite, was 10th in Thursday's field of 11 that featured a trailer.

The action started at the gate when the trailer First Class Mass broke and Bob McClure left from the 10-hole with The Green Gazoo, but eventually relented to Another Great Mass out of the six-hole. Another Great Mass took the field through the 27 2/5 first quarter, briefly relented to Strobe Lite (Tyler Borth) through the 58 1/5 half and took the lead back through the 1:28 1/5 three-quarters.

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In the stretch, plenty of the young trotters were game, but Henry's colt held them off. Touchedbyanangel had broken equipment but still finished second while D A Mastermind (Chris Christoforou) was third, followed by Taven On The Green (Louis-Philippe Roy) and Strobe Lite.

"My plan was to get a spot early," Henry told Woodbine Mohawk Park broadcaster John Rallis. "I didn't know whether I'd land on the front or where I'd land, but I wanted to be up-close. He's a handy horse. You can do whatever you want with him, and it just worked out that we got easy fractions and he out-trotted them for home.

"Late in the stretch he got relaxed. I had him pretty much to sleep...he's a pleasure to drive."

Another Great Mass, paid $11 and is now 2-2-0 in four career starts. The C$70,000 payday boosted his bankroll to C$113,500 lifetime.

"I never did rush him," Peconi Jr. said. "I schooled him a couple of times and it felt like he was getting to be a little bit hot, so I just backed off with him and brought him down [to Woodbine Mohawk Park]."

--press release (Ontario Sires Stakes)--