Odds On Bullfrog did not see the rail for the first three-eighths-of-a-mile, then made the top shortly thereafter before providing his foes with a thorough thrashing in the $75,000 Ontario Sire Stakes Grassroots Final for 2-year-old pacing colts and geldings on Saturday night (Sept. 27) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
In the early going, the action was hot and heavy as Lyons Gustavofring (Jonathan Drury), Brindle (Tyler Borth) and D A Lets Dance (Billy Davis, Jr.) were in a scrum into the first turn. Brindle, despite leaving from post 10, grabbed the top at the quarter in :26.1.
Odds On Bullfrog was just behind the early fray and never saw the rail until he went past Brindle at the three-eighths. Driver Bob McClure had his horse moving well to the half, opening up a 1½-length edge on Brindle in :54.4.
Bullfrogs can execute explosive jumps to move quickly across their environments. Odds On Bullfrog used explosive pace to extend his advantage to three lengths at three-quarters, which was reached in 1:23.2.
It was as easy as snatching flies out of the air from there.
The Dr. Ian Moore-trained Odds On Bullfrog put up a final quarter of :28.2 to put the finishing touches on a safe half-length win over a fast-closing Mega Moves (Jody Jamieson). Lyons Gustavofring was third.
“When we first got him, he was a nice colt and I liked him,” Moore said, “and I tried to buy into the colt. They really didn’t want to because they like to have their own, Odds On Racing, which is fine.
“That was in December. Then, he trained well all winter, but nothing special. When he started racing, he had a couple of good qualifiers. And, then again, nothing special, but I took over him for a couple of weeks there, before he started the winning streak. When he got the fourth [in a Mohawk overnight on Aug. 22], he actually should have won that night, but he got locked in. I changed some training methods on him and it’s really worked. He’s really turned [it] around.”
The Doc is likely to write prescriptions that call for Ontario-breds moving forward.
“Well, this year, I’ve already indicated to my partners that we’re going to be buying practically all Ontario-sired horses,” Moore said. “I mean, there might be an odd one we get that they can’t resist, but that’s what we’re shooting for this year. This has been a great program and it still is.”
His driver was also impressed.
“I drove him maybe a month or two ago, and, to be completely honest, he wasn’t nice to drive the first few times I drove him,” McClure said. “It’s amazing, like, the turnaround. The work they put in, and he was an absolute gem to drive tonight. Just kept pushing and, you know, the further we went, actually, like, he started pulling away again. So, he’s gotten to be a real nice colt.
“Yeah, he did [dig in when Mega Moves was closing in late]. I tried to keep him going, but he was starting to, what I thought, was tire, but then as soon as Jody came up beside him, away he went. [Regular driver Louis-Philippe Roy] did tell me that. He said you’ll think you’re beat five times, and then every time one comes, he just puts them away again. So, Louis had kind of given me a heads up on that and he was spot on.”
The Bulldog Hanover—Odds On Naples colt completed the mile in 1:51.4 to pick up his fourth straight win after starting his career winless in four tries. Owned by Odds On Racing of Boca Raton, FL, Odds On Bullfrog’s earnings now stand at $79,310. An Odds On Nourrir of Boca Raton, FL homebred, the winner returned $6.30 as the 2-1 second choice in the field of 10.