Woodbine Mohawk Park: Shes A Bulldog strikes in OSS Gold Series

Shes A Bulldog kicked home with authority to win the lone C$150,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Leg 5 division for 3-year-old pacing fillies on Friday (Sept. 25) at Woodbine Mohawk Park in a career-best 1:49 2/5.

Sent off as the 4-1 third choice in the field of six, following the scratch of Cold Creek Cali, Shes A Bulldog (Bob McClure) passed both three-time 2026 Gold champ A Clean Deal (Doug McNair), the 1-2 favorite, and second choice Daya (Jody Jamieson) in the stretch to win by one length over the former. Daya finished third.

It was the first Gold victory of the year for Shes A Bulldog, a homebred daughter of Bulldog Hanover out of Band Stand owned by Brad Grant and trained by Ron Burke.

In the winner's circle, McClure said he was surprised by Shes A Bulldog's performance.

"The last few times I drove her, she wasn't quite as good as she'd been in the past, and frankly, in the post parade, she didn't feel very good tonight at all," McClure told Woodbine broadcaster Randy Waples. "But when she got into the last turn she felt full of herself, so I gave her a shot, and she kicked home awesome."

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McClure positioned Shes A Bulldog fourth through much of the mile as first Daya and then A Clean Deal led the group through fractions of 27 1/5, 54 4/5 and 1:23. McClure put Shes A Bulldog in gear in the last turn, following Pownal Bay Bobbi (James MacDonald).

"Ideally, I would have liked to have just sat third and follow the whole way," McClure said. "But James had the same idea. In the last turn with A Clean Deal on front, [Shes A Bulldog will] not labor, but she'll let up pretty good in that last turn. So, I figured if I came first-up and I rode slow enough, I'd be able to get to her, and then it would be a sprint home. I figured I could maintain third and maybe even second if Jody couldn't get out. Then when Jody popped out of the two hole it was the perfect situation. Then I was second-over and following one of the best horses and the other best one was in front of me. When I tipped her out, she gave me everything she had, and we were able to get the job done."

Shes A Bulldog paid $10.30 to win. There was no show wagering.

Shes A Bulldog improved to 3-3-2 in 14 starts this year and 4-5-2 in 23 lifetime outings. The C$75,000 payday pushed her bank account to C$279,893 this year and to C$807,806 lifetime.

The victory allowed Shes A Bulldog to jump over Pownal Bay Bobbi into third-place in the seasonal Gold Series standings. Sixth-place finisher Artistic Delight earned just enough points to jump from 11th in the standings into tenth-place. The top 10 points-getters qualify for the Oct. 10 $350,000 OSS Super Final.

With Gold legs now complete, the final standings in the division are as follows:

A Clean Deal-200
Daya-162
Shes A Bulldog- 83
Pownal Bay Bobbi-45
Jen Tilly-31
Lavender Seelster-28
Romantic Beauty-16
TH Check Me Out-15
Cackle Berry-12
Artistic Delight-8

--press release (Ontario Racing)--