Woodbine Mohawk Park: Century Lucifer, Stonebridge Wizard rule in OSS Gold Series

Century Lucifer and Stonebridge Wizard got victories in the two C$95,000 divisions of the opening leg of the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series for 2-year-old male pacers on Friday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Driven by Paul MacDonell in the first flight, Century Lucifer drove on two-wide to take the lead away from Bunkhouse Boss (Trevor Henry) past the 27 1/5 quarter but then yielded to Time Passer (Louis-Philippe Roy). MacDonell was back out and on the move prior to the 56 2/5 half, though, and regained the front entering the final bend.

A shuffled Bunkhouse Boss took a first-over shot at Century Lucifer on the final bend, but Century Lucifer fought him off to the 1:25 3/5 three-quarters and then put him away in the lane. Century Lucifer still had another challenger to deal with as Set Shot (Sylvain Filion) charged at him from second-over, but Century Lucifer was able to withstand that brush, too, winning by a neck in 1:54. Set Shot was a good second, followed by Time Passer.

"I was really impressed. They told me he might be a tad aggressive when we went on the track, but I didn't find him bad at all until the gate said go," noted MacDonell. "He got a little bit fired up when the horses started to cross in front of him, and I had to go on to the front. After that he was perfect to drive, just a really nice colt.

"He responded nice. I think he's got that racehorse instinct. That's going to take him a long way in the future."

A Shadow Play colt bred by Century Spring Farms, Century Lucifer is trained by Rene Dion for owners S&r Racing Stable Inc., Marc Trudeau, Sms Ventures Inc, and M & L Of Delaware LLC. Century Lucifer, a C$25,000 purchase at last year's London Classic Yearling Sale, has a win and a third in two outings, has banked C$49,420 and paid $3.90 to win as the 4-5 favorite.

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First-crop sire Dancin Lou got his first stakes winner when Stonebridge Wizard took the other split with Doug McNair driving him to a 1:52 victory.

Allstar Maniac (Roy) left from post five and wrestled control away from Sterling Choice (Filion) after the 26 2/5 quarter. Allstar Maniac would go on to hit the half in 55 seconds and the three-quarters in 1:23 2/5, with Sterling Choice squeezing out two-wide before the latter marker, sending Stonebridge Wizard, who had gone first-over past the half, into a three-wide position.

In the stretch Stonebridge Wizard powered by his rivals, and thanks to a 28 1/5 final quarter, he would win by a length and a half. Sterling Choice wound up second and Fifth And Five (Jody Jamieson), who was in traffic in the stretch until finding late room, had to settle for third.

"He's just a very versatile colt and he's real lazy. If you watch him in the post parade, he's non-chalant. You can kind of do whatever you want with him. That makes it quite a bit easier to make your decision behind the gate," offered McNair. "You could tell Louis's horse was pretty aggresive early, so there was a little bit of a speed battle in the first turn. Mine just kind of relaxed real nice. Going to the half he didn't feel like he was going much. He kind of ran up on the back of Jody, and the half flipped up in 55. That's a good feeling when they don't feel like they're going much, but they really are. He had a pretty good shot from there.

"He can race from on the front or behind. I actually wanted to buy him at the sale, and the first guy I ran into was the owner, so I didn't even get a bid on him. I'm just thankful I got the drive on him."

Trainer Jared Bako sent out Stonebridge Wizard, bred by Angie Stiller and bought for C$32,000 at the 2023 London Classic Yearling Sale, for owner David Kryway. Stonebridge Wizard has been victorious in both of his outings, has put away C$55,500 and returned $6.60 to win as the 2-1 second choice.