The father-and-son team of trainer Gregg McNair and driver Doug McNair won both of the $100,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Leg 4 divisions for 2-year-old pacing colts on Saturday (Sept. 5) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
TH Theo posted his first Gold victory and Atlas Ross remained undefeated.
In the first division (race 6), 14-1 longshot TH Theo (above) defeated 4-5 favourite D A Alljokesaside (Mark MacDonald) by a half-length in a career-best 1:50.4.
D A Alljokesaside was on top heading into the first turn and led the six-horse field through fractions of :26.4, :55.4 and 1:23 with TH Theo in close contention. In the stretch, Doug pulled the pocket and TH Theo dug in and managed to grind past a game D A Alljokesaside to post his second OSS win of the year and first Gold triumph.
“I wasn’t really sure until really late [that I would get past D A Alljokesaside],” Doug told WEG broadcaster John Rallis. “He came out of the hole like he was going to win by 10, but as soon as he got to him, he kind of hesitated and made me work on him a little bit. But, he’s a nice colt and he’s on the right track, that’s for sure.”
TH Theo paid $30 to win.
TH Theo now has a record of 2-0-2 in seven career starts, and earnings of $36,340.
The colt, a son of Cattlewash out of Sports Check, was bred by Tara Hills Stud of Port Perry, ON and purchased for $150,000 at the 2025 Standardbred Horse Sales by Frank D Brundle, Mac Nichol and Jeffrey Skinner.
“Dad’s got a lot of nice colts this year,” Doug said. “But I thought [TH Theo] was the best one training down, or one of the top two for sure. Maybe he made me look a little stupid early, but he is starting to come around.”
Atlas Ross (Doug McNair) remained undefeated through five career starts by winning the second Gold division for freshman pacing colts.
In the second division (race 11), Atlas Ross won his third OSS Gold race of the year and upped his earnings to $192,550 with a 1:51.3 victory that was 1½ lengths better than Yes I Am Hanover (Bob McClure).
Sent off as the 2-5 favourite in the field of six, Doug had Atlas Ross on top before the half and rolled through fraction of :56, 1:25 to seal the victory. Cattletracks (Louis-Philippe Roy), who led the field to the opening quarter of :27, hung on for third. Big D Energy (Mark MacDonald) recovered from an early break to finish fourth. Meetmeonthebeach (James MacDonald) grabbed the final cheque.
Atlas Ross paid $2.80 to win.
Atlas Ross was bred by Ashley and Dean Wilson and is owned by James and Elizabeth Ross of Wingham, ON. The Big Jim colt out of Kisskissbangbang was a $25,000 purchase at the 2025 London Classic Yearling Sale.
The previous Gold winners in the division were: