Woodbine Mohawk Park: Twin B Archie trots to SBOA Stakes title

Twin B Archie, an Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final champion last year, was a 1:53 3/5 winner in Monday night's non-wagering C$121,600 SBOA Stakes final for 3-year-old male trotters at Woodbine Mohawk Park. This event was supposed to take place on Saturday night but was one of the events impacted by the early cancellation of that program due to power issues at the Campbellville, Ontario, oval.

Driven by the red-hot James MacDonald, Twin B Archie led early after firing out from post six but would yield to Mr Fritter (Doug McNair), who had blasted from post nine, past the 27 second opening quarter. MacDonald had no desire to sit in the two-hole with Twin B Archie, though, and re-moved him to the top in the backstretch.

After re-taking the lead, Twin B Archie opened up a gap on the rest of the horses through middle-half panels of 56 3/5 and 1:24 4/5, and a 28 4/5 last quarter sealed his four length victory. Esplosione (Jody Jamieson), who started from post ten, found late room in the stretch and closed well to finish second, and Duly Resolved (Paul MacDonell), the defending O'Brien Award winner for the division, was third.

"At 2 he was kind of like weak to sit behind. He always raced good and he's a terrific horse, obviously. He won the Super Final and a bunch of Golds, but this year he looks like a man," said MacDonald. "He grew up quite a bit. There's a night and day different look to sit behind. Hopefully that translates into a lot of power."

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Trainer Scott McEneny also co-owns Twin B Archie, a gelded son of Archangel bred by Twinbrook Limited, with partners Domenic Chiaravalle, Floyd Marshall, and Martwest Racing Stable. He has compiled a record of 6-3-1 from 12 career starts, and he has now banked C$358,316.

"He was a little wound up the other night actually with all the commotion in the paddock with everybody trying to get raced and everything. He was a lot quieter tonight," remarked McEneny. "I jogged him this morning just to kind of take the edge off him as well. He was really good tonight.

"He's all business in the race. You've just got to keep an eye on him, don't let your guard down on him."