Canadian-sired Graduate Series winner Osceola (Muscle Mass) achieved a significant milestone by securing his first career top-level overnight harness racing victory in the $32,000 Preferred-2 at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Monday (Jul. 8).
Driven by Doug McNair, Osceola positioned himself third to the quarter in :28.2 before taking the lead soon after and maintaining control with fractions of :56.2 and 1:24. He finished the race in 1:51.4, holding off Handsome Sebastian by three-quarters of a length, with Patriarch Hanover (Trevor Henry) coming in third.
Osceola has won four of his seven starts this season, including sweeping the Canadian-sired Graduate Series and winning a leg of the Grand Circuit’s Graduate Series. Trained by Gregg McNair, who co-owns him with Willow Oak Ranch and Paul Hawman, Osceola now has 10 victories and $576,655 in earnings from 32 career starts.
Tito N Cheddar (Betterthancheddar, Louis-Philippe Roy) won the first division, rallying from fourth at the top of the stretch to out-kick Tip Of Time (Travis Cullen) by half a length in 1:54.1. Sunsational (Sylvain Filion) finished third. This was Tito N Cheddar's second start, following a third-place finish on debut.
Crack Shot (Bettors Delight, Doug McNair), a $205,000 Lexington Select purchase, won his debut in 1:55. Trained by Gregg McNair and co-owned by McNair, Dale Hunter, Frank Brundle, and George Kerr, Crack Shot led from the first station, finishing three-and-a-quarter lengths ahead of Wicked Weston (Bob McClure) and Belmont Blazer (Cullen).
Blue Bar (All Bets Off, Cullen) captured the third division by leading from the second quarter and winning by two-and-a-quarter lengths in 1:55. Zander (Filion) secured second place, holding off Boyd Bay (Roy). Blue Bar, trained by Jodie Cullen and owned/bred by Cullen, now has one win from three starts, earning $13,255.
Woodbine Mohawk Park will continue with more Ontario Sires Stakes action on Tuesday, Jul. 9, featuring the first Gold leg for two-year-old trotting males and the first round of the Grassroots for rookie pacing fillies. The first post is set for 7:10 p.m. EDT.