Touchedbyanangel posted a 1:52.1 career-best win, and pushed his lifetime earnings to brink of $500,000 in the lone $150,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Leg 5 division for 3-year-old trotting colts on Saturday (Sept. 12) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Sent off as 9-5 second choice in the field of six, Touchedbyanangel and red-hot driver Doug McNair left with authority, was on top soon after, and then led the group through fractions of :27.2, :56.4 and 1:25.1. Strobe Lite (James MacDonald), the 2-5 favourite, sat fourth before making his move at the half. He crept up to second and threatened to go past Touchedbyanangel in the stretch, but McNair’s colt rebuffed the challenge to win by a head.
“[Touchedbyanangel is] a funny horse sometimes to drive,” McNair told Woodbine broadcaster John Rallis. “He doesn’t really love the front. James knows that, so I figured once I made the lead, he was going to let me get away with as soft of fractions as I wanted to go because he can usually beat me when I’m in the front and he’s first up. But today, in the last turn, usually I try to get away from him. Today, I just kind of let him float up to my wheel, and my horse just felt a lot braver. He raced great, and he kicked home well, for him.”
Stormont Shanlyboy (Tyler Jones) was third, followed by Toss Of The Dice (Trevor Henry) and The Green Gazoo (Todd Ratchford).
Touchedbyanangel paid $5.70 to win. There was no show wagering.
It was the second Gold victory this year for the gelded son of Archangel out of Rubys Are Nice, who won the first leg back on May 24.
Touchedbyanangel improved to 4-3-4 in 13 starts this year and 6-4-4 in 25 lifetime outings for owner/breeder Blair Corbeil and his ownership partners Yolanda Fellows, Mike McAllister and Peter Porter. Touchedbyanangel, trained by Kyle Fellows, has now earned $ 308,677 this year and $499,064 lifetime.
The gelding was a $70,000 purchase at the 2024 Standardbred Horse Sales Company yearling sale in Harrisburg, PA.
In previous Gold Series action in the division:
- Touchedbyanangel won Leg 1 on May 24 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
- Strobe Lite won Leg 2 on June 21 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
- Strobe Lite also won Leg 3 on July 19 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
- Dream For Peace won Leg 4 on Aug. 13 at Grand River Raceway.
Grassroots Results
On Saturday, there were also two Grassroots races at Hiawatha Horse Park for 2-year-old pacing fillies. The winners were:
- Tenacious (Bulldog Hanover—Lady Be Great) broke his maiden in 1:54.3 for breeder Hamstan Farm Inc., owner Tenacious Stable, trainer Dr. Ian Moore and driver Don Rankin, Jr.
- We Want It All (Bulldog Hanover—Beach Gal) remained perfect through three starts with a 1:52.3 win for breeder Sergent Stables, owner Brad Grant, trainer Dr. Moore and driver Paul MacKenzie. We Want It All was purchased for $200,000 at the 2025 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.