Springbridge Duel In OSS
July 20, 2020
Springbridge Duel
and Desperate Man have done nothing but win since making their Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) debut two weeks ago. Springbridge Duel p, 2, 1:51.3s ($106,400) Big Jim - Stonebridge Damsel is now #1 on the OSS Leaderboard with $106,400 in OSS earnings for 2 yo pacing colts.
Back in Gold Series action at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Saturday (July 18), the geldings were sent off as heavy favourites in their respective $107,200 divisions and proved that their victories in the season opener had nothing to do with luck.
Starting from post 9, Springbridge Duel got away fourth as Twin B Heart Throb led the field to a :26.3 quarter. Next Big Thing took over on the front before the :57 half, but driver Bob McClure was content to let Springbridge Duel hover in fourth waiting for a wind break that came from Twin B Fighter heading for the 1:25.1 three-quarters. Just over five lengths behind the leader at the top of the stretch, Springbridge Duel eventually shifted into high gear and sprinted away from his peers to a two-length victory in 1:53.1. Avion Seelster closed well for second and Next Big Thing stayed game for third.
“Once Bob got his attention, he was really motoring that last eighth, but he definitely scared me at the head of the lane where it looked like he was kind of hanging little bit,” said trainer Casie Coleman Herlihy. “But I’ve got to remember he’s green too, he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
After Springbridge Duel’s 1:51.3 win on the front in the July 3 season opener, Coleman Herlihy opted to switch him to an open bridle in an effort to keep the fractious youngster calm, cool and collected. While she was pleased with his effort, she is not sure the new equipment will remain in place for the Big Jim son’s next start in the Battle Of Waterloo eliminations at Grand River Raceway on July 27.
“I was kind of worried he was too quiet,” Coleman Herlihy said. “I’m not a trainer that ever uses an open bridle much, I like a horse up on the rigging and I like keeping their attention, but saying that this horse is extremely hot, he’s hard to handle, and when he gets mad he’ll get chucking his head and he will make a break if you get fighting him. So you’ve got to keep him happy and kind of do things the way he wants so he doesn’t get upset with you.
“Bob gave him a perfect trip, he couldn’t have got a better trip, where we finally we got to sit for a while and then come second over, that was a really good learning experience for him,” she added. “Now I’ve just got to figure out a happy medium with the horse.”
Coleman Herlihy trains Springbridge Duel for West Wins Stable, Steve Heimbecker and Mark Kantrowitz. The partners offered $40,000 for the gelding at last fall’s Harrisburg Yearling Sale and wondered all winter whether they would even see the horse race, let alone recoup any of his purchase price.
“Casie sent me two really funny videos — funny now that the colt has shown what he can do — and he was not a friendly animal at the start and we really didn’t have any high aspirations for him,” said Heimbecker. “He’s definitely proven us wrong. I’m very excited to see what this colt can do for the rest of the year. And I know it’s a little early to say, but I am excited about next year too.”
Kathy and John Cecchin and their daughter and son-in-law Nicole and Paul Davies are also excited to see what else is in store for Desperate Man after the Shadow Play son cruised to a three-length victory in the second $107,200 OSS division.
Starting from post 4 with regular reinsman Trevor Henry in the race bike, Desperate Man got away fifth and watched the second-betting choice Uncontrollable reach the quarter in :27.2. As the pace eased Henry sent Desperate Man after the lead, clearing control just after the :57.1 half. On top by two-and-three-quarter lengths at the 1:24.3 three-quarters, Desperate Man sailed down the stretch to the three=length victory in 1:52.3. Ucanttouchthis was second and Socrates Blue Chip finished third.
“I don’t think that we really ever thought, I mean John liked him and everybody liked him, but you know when you go to baby race you find out that everybody’s got a super nice colt, so we really didn’t have those kind of expectations at all,” said trainer Kathy Cecchin. “We’re happy that we have him and we really like him, but there’s a lot of nice colts out there and we’ll just hope for the best.”
Where Springbridge Duel was a headache for Coleman Herlihy and her team all winter, Desperate Man was a model student for the Cecchin’s, learning his lessons almost effortlessly.
“Super smart, John said all winter he’s much more like a four-year-old than he is like a two-year-old,” said Cecchin. “He just doesn’t do anything wrong really. He wears two head poles, but he doesn’t wear any big equipment, he’s just a pretty easy-going guy.”
The son of Shadow Play was a $20,000 acquisition at last fall’s Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, with Henry, John MacLeod and Jim Fleming responsible for bidding on the youngster for the Cecchin’s and son. After he arrived, the Cecchins gave half-ownership of him to the Davies’ as a wedding gift.
“We were looking for a horse from the family of Outlawgrabbingears, and his mother is a sister to Outlawgrabbingears mother. Outlawgrabbingears is their good horse, maybe a horse of a lifetime, and so I said, ‘Dad and I will give you money when you buy a house or we’ll give you half of the colt, whatever you want’, and they said that they wanted half of the colt so that’s what they got,” said Cecchin. “They’re pretty pleased about the whole thing I think. But like I said, it could have legitimately been half of nothing, because you don’t know, right.”
Through just two starts Desperate Man has earned $106,000, and while he is not eligible anything other than the Ontario Sires Stakes, he will have ample opportunity to pad the Davies’ down-payment fund. His next start comes on Aug. 21 when the two-year-old pacing colts return to Woodbine Mohawk Park for their third Gold leg.
(Ontario Sires Stakes)
Stonebridge Wings ($6.90) took the second Grassroots division as he nailed favourite Tavern On the Green (Louis-Philippe Roy) by a head to score in 1:53.3. Zillennial (McNair) finished third, June 25 at Mohawk. Marcel Barrieau trains Stonebridge Wings, an Archangel-Stonebridge Glider gelding, and co-owns him with Gestion Mastel Inc. of Longueil, Que.
London Classic Yearling Sale graduate Stonebridge Wings earned his maiden victory on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The three-year-old son of Archangel sat patiently off the pace before driver Bob McClure angled him into the outer flow turning for home. Stonebridge Wings powered through the stretch and got up in the final strides to score in 1:55.4 for trainer Marcel Barrieau.
Linda Toscano, Joe Bongiorno and Ron Burke each had multiple training wins at the first week of two-year-old qualifiers at Gaitway Farm on Wednesday, June 10. Burke’s three winners were pacing colts Midwind Buxton and Stonebridge Blitz and trotting filly Nevis Peak, all driven by Yannick Gingras. Stonebridge Blitz (Tall Dark Stranger-Shouldabeenatd) also triumphed in 1:56.1, and also with a :27 last quarter from out of the pocket after stablemate JK Lmnop set the pace. Stonebridge Blitz was purchased for $55,556 at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale and is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Larry Karr, Michael Rosenthal and Frank Baldachino. He was bred by Stonebridge Farm Ltd.
Stonebridge Blitz ( Tall Dark Stranger -Shouldabeenatd) triumphed in 1:56.1, and also with a :27 last quarter from out of the pocket after stablemate JK Lmnop set the pace at Wednesday’s (June 10) first week of 2-year-old qualifiers at Gaitway Farm.. Stonebridge Blitz was purchased for $40,000 at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale and is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Larry Karr, Michael Rosenthal, and Frank Baldachino. He was bred by Stonebridge Farm LTD.
Stonebridge Reef made it three straight victories in the Winners Over Pace at Tioga Downs as the Jeff Cullipher-trained stallion won the $17,808 feature on Sunday, June 22. Stonebridge Reef ($3.70) went straight to the front for Tyler Miller, reigned unchallenged as he cut fractions of :26.4 and :55.3, and started to widen the lead over Bb Lucky Boy (Braxten Boyd) as the field travelled down the backstretch to three-quarters in 1:22.1. As they made the turn for home, it became a race for the minors as Stonebridge Reef cruised to a 3-1/2-length victory in a seasonal-best 1:50.1. Vengeance Bluechip (Jim Pantaleano) rallied to take second over Intimidation (Ridge Warren). Stonebridge Reef , a seven-year-old stallion, is undefeated in three starts at Tioga Downs since moving to the track from Pocono Downs earlier this month. He is now seven-for-15 this term and notched his 24th win in 114 lifetime starts. The son of Somebeachsomewhere-Rock N Soul is owned by Pollack Racing Stable LLC. Leading driver Braxten Boyd continued his dominance at Tioga, winning five more races on the 12-dash card. The reinsman, now ahead of Tyler Miller by 21 wins in the standings, won with Smart Guy ($9), Top Tier ($7.10), Ozark ($2.50), Dontbothermenone N ($5.50) and Orlando Blue A ($4.40). Pantaleano and trainer Mike Deters teamed up for three wins on the card. They struck with Always B Elvis ($4.40), Parmesan N ($4.20) and Mea Culpa A ($3). The 14-year-old trotting gelding Everyones Talkin reached 50 career wins as he took the finale. The veteran by Donato Hanover-Poster Princess got every call and won the $11,644 Southern Tier Amateur Club dash in 1:57.2 with Ron Cusimano in the bike. Sir Jesse (Lee Morris) finished second by 2-1/2 lengths after a first-over effort. Kruise On Dover (Cameron Capone) was third. Everyones Talkin made his second start for trainer Edgar Clarke in the victory, the gelding's first of the season in seven appearances. He hit the 50-win milestone in start number 349 while increasing his career earnings to $451,532. Cusimano Stables LLC owns the gelding. Tioga Downs will host its next card on Friday, June 27 with a post time of 6:15 p.m.
Stonebridge Reef , driven by Tyler Miller, won the $16,438 Winners Over Handicap Pace in his Tioga Downs debut on Sunday, June 8. BB Lucky Boy (Braxten Boyd) went straight to the front in a :26.4 quarter before backing down the pace to the half in :56.2. He was prompted to pick it up again as Livonjaxandqueens (Colin Kelly) went first-up down the backstretch and challenged to three-quarters in 1:22.3. But as they reached the stretch, pocket-sitter Stonebridge Reef rushed three-wide and blew right on by to win in 1:51.2 by 3-1/4 lengths. Primo Uomo (Warren Ridge) was flying late from the back of the six-pack to finish second over another closer, Little Willy (Aaron Byron), and Livonjaxandqueens. Stonebridge Reef , a seven-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere out of Rock N Soul, is trained by Jeff Cullipher and owned by Pollack Racing. He earned his fifth win of the year from 13 starts, pushing his seasonal earnings over $50,000. Stonebridge Reef paid $4.40 to win as the bettors' choice. Live harness racing resumes at Tioga Downs on Friday, June 13, with a post time of 6:15 p.m. (With files from Tioga Downs)
Standardbred Canada announced the winners of the 2024 O’Brien Awards, honouring Canada’s best in harness racing over the past season, at the Black Tie Gala on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025 in Mississauga, Ont. The event marked the 36th edition of the O’Brien Awards, named in honour of the late Joe O’Brien, an outstanding horseman from Prince Edward Island and member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Stonebridge Wizard received the O’Brien Award in the Two-Year-Old Pacing Colt category. The Dancin Lou-Odds On Magic gelding had his winner’s circle photograph taken five times from nine starts as a rookie for trainer Jared Bako. Stonebridge Wizard was a stalwart in the OSS from start to finish, claiming wins in both the season's first and last Gold legs. Sandwiched between those Gold triumphs was his biggest payday, which came in a hard-fought victory in the $245,400 Battle of Waterloo at Grand River Raceway, where he earned his lifetime mark of 1:51.2.
Thursday (Oct. 3) evening at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Stonebridge Wizard took the first of two $95,000 OSS Gold splits for the freshman boys with a hefty 15-1 upset. Doug McNair took the Jared Bako student into third and they bided their time through marks in :28, :57, and 1:24.4. Sliding up the inside, Stonebridge Wizard was able to zip past the field and win by a neck in 1:51.4. Sauble Wizard (Bob McClure) closed sharply, but was bested at the wire. Smiling Dancer (James MacDonald) rounded out the show ticket. "He showed tonight he was tough as whalebone," McNair said. "He did a lot of work in the stretch to get by a lot of horses." David Kryway owns the Dancin Lou - Odds On Magic gelding as he moved his record to 5-1-0 in eight starts. Stonebridge Wizard has banked $281,100 in his young career to date. He paid $32.70 to win.
Stonebridge Thrill bested his stablemate at the wire in one of two $20,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots divisions at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Monday (Sept. 16) evening as one of four top performers from the Anthony Beaton Stable on the card. Beaton had a pair of starters in both OSS Grassroots divisions for sophomore pacing colts and geldings and they returned with a record of 1-2-1 for the evening tally. Mcpleasant (James MacDonald) was the first to the quarter timer in :26.4, while his stablemate Stonebridge Thrill (Tyler Borth) was caught on the outside in fourth. Borth moved Stonebridge Thrill along the pylons before the :54.3 half while Do Better took over from Mcpleasant as the leader. Before the three-quarters in 1:22.4, Stonebridge Thrill was out on the move again, following the cover of Mcpleasant. A miscue by Do Better left the stablemates to battle for victory at the wire. Both pacing a 1:49.4 final mile time, Stonebridge Thrill did the better work with his :26.3 last quarter to win by a half length in 1:49.4. Chalk Hanover (Jody Jamieson) was third. Stonebridge Thrill is a three-year-old son of Bettors Delight and the Somebeachsomewhere mare Inverse Hanover owned by Mac and Carol Nichol. He won his first race of the year and third race from 22 starts in a career best time, pushing his lifetime sum to $86,986.
Stonebridge Farm are pleased to welcome the talented pacing mare Lee Loo to their broodmare band. A winner of close to $300,000 in her racing career, Lee Loo graduated from the New York Sire Stakes to open mare competition before being retired this summer. In total the daughter of Huntsville faced the gate 87 times and recorded a summary of 15-10-10 and a life record of 1:50.2 taken as a three-year-old. Lee Loo is from the Rock N Roll Heaven daughter Taiya Hanover who has also produced McNeil Z Tam p, 4, 1:51.4f ($133,781); S McKee p, 4, 1:52.3; Hes Express p, 3 1:54.3h ($71,475) and this year’s sophomore Whereicomefrom p, 3, 1:54.3f –‘24, also by Huntsville. Taiya is a sister to a pair of millionaires – Luck Be Withyou ($1.4M) and American Jewel ($1.8), the latter the dam of this year’s standout Odds On Platinum p, 3, 1:49 –’24 ($788,198). Stonebridge Farm welcomes Lee Loo to our select group of broodmares and look forward to selecting her first consort.
