Control Rocks posted the first sub-1:50 mile in Grand River Raceway history, winning the first of two $90,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Leg 3 divisions in 1:49.4 on Monday afternoon (Aug. 4) during the Elora, ON track’s Industry Day / Battle of Waterloo card.
Then, Allstar Maniac (above) did one better and followed that up with a 1:49 victory in the second Gold event (Note: the toteboard originally reflected a 1:50 mile, but it was later corrected to 1:49). The 1:49 mile is also a Canadian and OSS record for a 3-year-old male pacer on a five-eighths mile track, surpassing the 1:49.2 mark Watermelonwine set at Georgian Downs in 2011.
It is the second year Grand River Raceway has been a five-eighths mile oval and track records were the order of the day.
In the first division, Tyler Borth piloted Control Rocks to the wire-to-wire victory for owner/trainer Jack Darling of Cambridge, ON. The gelded son of Control The Moment out of Katie Rocks, sent off at 3-1, defeated a field of five a little over two weeks after setting a career-best 1:49.2 mile at Woodbine Mohawk Park in his last start.
Borth said he wasn’t surprised Control Rocks was a 1:49.4 winner on Monday.
“I feel this track is close to as fast as Mohawk sometimes,” Borth said. “And he’s been pacing in :49 at Mohawk. It doesn’t surprise me that he was able to do it [today].”
Control Rocks paid $8.70 and defeated favourite Crack Shot (Doug McNair) by a head. Docs Buddy (Louis-Philippe Roy), Set Shot (Bob McClure) and Aquinas Hanover (Jody Jamieson) picked up the final cheques in that order.
Darling said Control Rocks has been, “racing really well. He trained super this week and I expected a big effort from him.”
Bred by Ben Mudry of Toronto, Control Rocks was purchased by Darling for $33,000 at the 2023 London Classic Yearling Sale.
“I had his brother [Tom Cruze Control] last year,” Darling said. “He showed me some good speed, but he was lame. He didn’t even race. So, I knew the horse had talent. When I saw the brother, I fell in love with him just from his looks.”
Control Rocks raced just once as a 2-year-old. Darling said the pacer was sick last year and it ended up costing Control Rocks the entire season of racing. His career record now stands at 5-3-1 in 12 starts, with earnings of $139,870.
“The nice thing is he was never hurt [last year],” said Darling, who also won the $153,000 Battle of the Belles in a 1:50.4 track record with 2-year-old pacing filly Daya (Jody Jamieson) later on the Grand River card.
Control Rocks (Tyler Borth) winning the first of two $90,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Leg 3 events for 3-year-old pacing colts in 1:49.4 on Monday afternoon (Aug. 4) at Grand River Raceway.
In the second Gold event, Allstar Maniac was able to grind his way past determined front-runner Sterling Choice to win by a half-length over the latter.
James MacDonald orchestrated the victory for trainer Nick Gallucci and owner George Millar of Stouffville, ON. The driver said he was pleased to be sitting in the pocket for most of the mile as Sterling Choice (Billy Davis, Jr.) put up fractions of :25.4, :54 and 1:23.1.
“I loved the fractions,” MacDonald said. “I thought it might set up a little bit like that.”
Coming off the final turn, MacDonald said he was confident Allstar Maniac —a son of All Bets Off out of Shes A Maniac — would get past Sterling Choice.
“He was on the right line in the last turn,” MacDonald said. “So, I had to wait until we straightened up. But, when I called on him, he took off again.”
SOS Sports Bet (Doug McNair) was third, followed by Boxer Seelster (Trevor Henry) and Blue Bar (Travis Cullen) in the field of six. Allstar Maniac was the favourite and paid $2.20.
Asked about the sophomore pacing colt division that includes Control Rocks, Pepsi North America Cup finalist Crack Shot, Set Shot and more, MacDonald said, “Tyler [Borth’s] horse was terrific today. I thought Crack Shot was the one to beat in the last division and Tyler just showed how deep the field is. Sterling Choice went a big mile today, too. So, you just never know who is going to step up from day to day.
“I don’t think there was ever any doubt about how great the Ontario Sires Stakes program is. Just look at last year’s NA Cup winner, and you see [star Ontario-sire horses] a lot more nowadays. I think the great horses come from everywhere and a lot of them are coming from Canada.”
Gallucci said his partner Karoline Nielsen picked out Allstar Manic, who was bred by Allstar Farms of Millbank, ON.
“She found him and picked him out,” Gallucci said. “She loved his video and he fit the part when we looked at him at the [London Classic Yearling] sale. We told George we liked him and when George is bidding you’re usually coming home with the horse.”
Millar purchased Allstar Maniac for $70,000. The gelding has now earned $220,784lifetime with a record of 5-1-4 in 12 starts. The gelding is 3-0-2 in five starts this year with earnings of $81,320.
Monday was Allstar Maniac’s first Gold victory.
“He won the mid-season final last year, but he has never won any of the Gold legs,” Gallucci said. “Hopefully, we’ve got a few more coming.
“He’s a really special horse and he showed a little bit more grit today than what he has in the past. So, I was really happy.”
In the card, finale, Ontario-sired 2-year-old pacing colt star Beau Jangles set a 1:51 track record winning the $227,100 Battle of Waterloo to remain unbeaten through three career starts.
The son of Cattlewash out of Mrs Major Hill, driven by Bob McClure for trainer Dr. Ian Moore, won OSS Gold events on July 5 and July 29 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Beau Jangles was bred by Tara Hills Stud of Port Perry, ON and is owned by Graham Grave Stables of Virginia, Kiwi Stables of Maryland and Bolton Stables of Florida. Beau Jangles already has earnings of $253,550.