Heavy favorite P L Spencer and driver Bob McClure turned in a dominating effort Saturday evening (Oct. 11) at Woodbine Mohawk Park, comfortably winning the $300,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Super Final for sophomore trotting colts.
Leading gate to wire the sophomore trotter picked up his 10th seasonal win with a 1:52.4 performance.
“There were a lot of nice colts in there,” McClure told Woodbine broadcaster John Rallis. “We got lucky and got there fairly easy and he’s pretty chill once he gets to the front and there was no pressure put on us… you know, he’s a tough colt to out-sprint when he gets fractions.”
Drawing post eight in the night’s eighth race, McClure and P L Spencer fired off the gate along with Galen Erso and Doug McNair to their inside. The 3-5 favorite reached the pylons shortly before the quarter station (:27.2) and proceeded to set the tempo with fractions of :57.2 and 1:26. LMC Wagon Wheel, steered by Tyler Borth, pulled from fifth on the backside and advanced to challenge pocket sitter Galen Erso. The result, however, was never in doubt for the Stephen Bossence trainee. P L Spencer sprinted away from the field on the strength of a :26.4 final panel and handily trotted to the wire two and one-half lengths in front. Galen Erso held on for second while Day out-finished LMC Wagon Wheel for third.
“This colt, coming in, he was just so sharp. I said to Steve, ‘I’ve never seen a transition in colt maturity, like mental maturity, in a season like this guy was,’” said McClure. “After his first start, he wasn’t that nice to drive – he was hot and he towed you around and put you in some spots where you didn’t want to be, but as the year progressed he’s just been an absolute pro and one that I’m actually really looking forward to racing as an open horse.”
The Resolve gelding out of Majestic Son mare P L Indyanaca is owned by the partnership of Bossence, Richard Thompson, Derek Reid and E C S Racing LLC. Bred by Prince Lee Acres, the trotter sold for $40,000 at the 2023 London Classic Yearling Sale. A winner in one of four starts as a freshman, P L Spencer has returned at 3 to produce a sensational sophomore campaign. Over 16 attempts the gelding finished first or second on 14 occasions. Saturday’s victory was the fourth straight and pushed his seasonal earnings to $528,081.
“Last year, we had to quit with him,” Bossence said. “He had a quarter crack and it was bothering him so I finally just pulled the plug and we sent him to Kentucky. He came back and he was always kind of racey, like on his toes a bit, but [McClure] made a horse out of him. He said, ‘I’m going to make a horse out of you.’ And he did. Without him, we probably wouldn’t be standing here. He really did a good, good job. He does that… if you watch him close with these young horses, he’s like watching Steve Condren from back in my day.”
Bossence revealed after the Gold Final win that P L Spencer had been sold, only to have the deal nixed this week. Now the connections will bring him back to campaign as a four year old in 2026.
“We’ll bring him back as an aged horse. Not to jinx him, but [he] was sold last week after the race, but they didn’t like the way his x-rays looked, so they passed on him and I guess he’s ours for next year now.”