Rebel Moon equaled the 1:53.4 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) record and Verily won the other Gold Leg 3 division for 2-year-old trotting fillies on Friday (Aug. 14) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
In the second division (race 7), Rebel Moon (above), sent off as the 2-5 favourite in the field of seven, posted her second lifetime Gold victory on the heels of a victory one week prior in the $168,000 Purse Ivory final at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
In the Gold, James MacDonald converted a perfect pocket trip behind 22-1 shot Simea (Trevor Henry) – fractions of :27.4, :55.4 and 1:24.1 – into a three-quarter-length score over Major Contender (Jody Jamieson). That gave Carl Jamieson trainees the top two spots.
“Carl always has them ready and does a good job,” MacDonald told Woodbine broadcaster John Rallis. “I think we’re three to three together this year. He might be thinking about a permanent driver change. I don’t know.”
Simea held on for third, followed by Northern Song (Bob McClure) and Jyn Erso (Louis-Philippe Roy).
Rebel Moon is now 4-0-0 in six career starts for owners Sarah Anthon of Fergus, ON and Ellen Ott of Buffalo, NY. The daughter of Muscle Mass out of Kiss An Angel was bred by Jeff Gillis and now sports earnings of $186,150.
“She’s just a beautiful filly,” MacDonald said. “She’s got a beautiful gait, and she likes to go by horses, so that’s always a good quality in a racehorse. Last week we kind of went soft fractions, and then Jody and I sprinted down the lane and [Rebel Moon] got the better of them and was really trotting hard through the wire. This week it was completely different. We were rolling along… but it was a little more of a slugfest tonight. I’m glad she held on.”
The 1:53.4 mile tied Rebel Moon with Bee A Magician (2012), Lil Sweet (2024) and Bingo Night (2025) for the fastest OSS mile in history for a 2-year-old trotting filly.
Rebel Moon paid $2.80.
In the first division (race 3), Verily (Roy), sent off as the even-money favourite in the field of eight, made a late charge in the lane to defeat Queen Of Bs (James MacDonald) by two lengths over Queen Of Bs in a career-best 1:54.1.
Song From Heaven (Tyler Borth) tried to go wire-to-wire, posting fractions of :26.4, :56.4 and 1:26.1 with both Treasure King (Jody Jamieson) and Queen of Bs in close pursuit. Roy had Verily positioned fourth throughout, but got the filly in gear coming home. She passed three horses and trotted home in :27.2 to win.
“She knows her business too well, kind of,” Roy said. “When you tip her off a helmet, she wants to go pretty fast. When I had to move her there in the last turn, she kind of wanted to go too fast, and that’s why tonight I was keeping on the helmet the longest I could. Once I was in the stretch, it’s easier for them to stay trotting. So, when I tipped her, she was she was all business and went by.”
Verily (Louis-Philippe Roy) winning the first of two $100,000 OSS Gold Leg 3 divisions for 2-year-old trotting fillies on Friday (Aug. 14) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Song From Heaven was third. Treasure King was fourth and Cold Breeze (Travis Henry) grabbed the final cheque.
It was the second OSS Gold victory for the daughter of Muscle Mass out of Yen trained by Meg Crone, owned by Bill Donovan of Florida and bred by Overseas Farms of Cambridge, ON.
Verily now has a record of 2-0-0 in three starts and earnings of $84,350.
The filly paid $4.30 to win.
In previous Gold Series action in the division:
- Queen Of Bs, Verily and Rebel Moon won Leg 1 divisions on July 5 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
- Treasure King and Major Contender won Leg 2 divisions on July 23 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.