Woodbine Mohawk Park: Forbidden Trade, Alicorn headline OSS Gold Super Final champions

Hambletonian champion Forbidden Trade and the talented freshman pacing filly Alicorn were among the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Super Final winners on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park as eight of those C$225,000 events for 2- and 3-year-olds of both sexes and gaits took place.

Forbidden Trade (Bob McClure) worked out a second-over trip in the sophomore colt and gelding trot, fanned out three-wide, and rallied by for a 1:53 2/5 win. Manatlas (Jody Jamieson) was second and All Wrapped Up (Louis-Philippe Roy) came in third.

"He's had a great year, and we're not quite done yet, but we're finishing it in the right order," said McClure. "They did their best to beat him, but he's a pretty nice horse, and he usually gets the job done."

Also the provincial champion as a freshman, Forbidden Trade won his 16th career race for trainer Luc Blais and owner Determination. He pushed his lifetime earnings to C$1,371,627, and he paid $3.00 to win as the 1-2 favorite.

Alicorn (Roy), the runner-up in the She's A Great Lady final, took the lead passing the 27 2/5 first quarter in the rookie filly pace and went on to win by three lengths in 1:52 4/5. Karma Seelster (Doug McNair) was placed second after original second-place finisher Rose Run Vantage (Sylvain Filion) was placed last for causing interference while on a break on the final turn, and Temagami Seelster (Trevor Henry) was moved up to third.

"She's just made it so fun, and I don't really have very many words for her. It's just been a great year," remarked winning trainer Chantal Mitchell. "She seems to be just as good now as she was two months ago. If ever she did show me that she was getting a little tired that would be the end of it for the year, but she kicked me in the hand today, so I knew she was feeling pretty good."

Windermere Stable LLC. and Robert Muscara own Alicorn, a daughter of Bettor's Delight-Mythical. Now a seven-time winner from 11 starts and an earner of C$520,789, Alicorn was bred by White Birch Farm and fetched $30,000 at last year's Standardbred Horse Sale. She was the 1-9 favorite and returned $2.10 to win.

While those two horses were both impressive, the most eye-catching winner of the night was Boadicea (Jonathan Drury) in the 3-year-old filly pace. She brushed from third to first around Sunny Dee (Trevor Henry) going to the 53 4/5 half, and kept the hammer down from there, zipping through a 1:21 1/5 three-quarters and hitting the wire 3 1/4 lengths to the good over Sunny Dee in a 1:49 2/5 mile.

"Those were some pretty big fractions. I was hoping I'd be able to get her in a spot where I could move her around to the front and just let her do her thing. She's better if you can just keep her rolling right along," stated Drury. "She was unbelievable. (Trainer) Bill Budd's done a great job keeping her fresh all year, and Scott's done a hell of a job taking care of her."

A filly by Big Jim, Boadicea is a homebred for Charles and Gordon Lawrence. She made her 11th appearance in the winner's circle, now has C$439,652 banked, and paid $6.40 to win as the 2-1 favorite.

While Henry had to settle for second in that race, he had the upset of the Gold Super Finals, connecting with 37-1 shot B Stoney in the sophomore colt and gelding pace. All eyes were on Century Farroh (Filion) in this race as he had won all five of his appearances in the Ontario Sires Stakes this year, but when he wasn't at his best from first-over, B Stoney took advantage, knifing between horses late after following along near the tail of the field on the inside, and bettering Stag Party (McNair) by a head in 1:50 3/5.

"I said to the guy when we were going out, I said 'they've really got to race hard, two have got to race bad, and we'll have to have a lot of luck,'" remarked Henry. "I just wanted to go the shortest route. I was hoping to get a check, and everything opened up through the stretch. It just worked out."

Trainer Murray Brethour also co-owns B Stoney, a gelding by Sunfire Blue Chip, with breeder Doug Millard and Barry McClennan. B Stoney picked up his sixth career win, and he has now stashed away C$220,632. He returned $77.30 to win.

The star of the show of the two-legged variety on the night was driver Dexter Dunn, who came north of the border and collected three trophies. He won the 3-year-old filly trot with Nifty Norman pupil Haveoneforme in 1:55 4/5, the 2-year-old colt and gelding pace with Dr. Ian Moore-trained Tattoo Artist in 1:52 and the 2-year-old colt and gelding trot with Ake Svanstedt trainee Moon Bridge in 1:55 4/5.

"They looked good on the paper and in the races, but you can never be too confident. Things have just worked out," Dunn said after the win with Moon Bridge.

Last, but certainly not least, was Jula Shes Magic, who won the 2-year-old filly trot on the front-end in 1:55 3/5 for driver Jody Jamieson, trainer Susie Kerwood, and owner Jula Racing Inc. Kadabra had a siring trifecta in this race, with his daughters Wine Rack Hanover (Filion) and She Rocks Kemp (Dunn), both trained by Nifty Norman, finishing second and third.

"She's really a lot better on the lead. I kind of screwed up a little bit going the second quarter a little bit too fast, but she just kind of felt comfortable and I let her do her thing," said Jamieson.

Many of these Ontario stars will be back in action over the next two weeks at Woodbine Mohawk Park in the Breeders Crown, with the eliminations coming up on Friday and Saturday.