33-1 shocker in $300,000 Super Final

Storm Shadow (Bettors Delight) defeated heavy favourite Funtime Bayama in a tough harness racing effort to upset at 31-1 in the $300,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final for rookie pacing males on Friday (Oct. 13) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

The colt slotted in sixth with Bob McClure in the bike as Chain Gang (James MacDonald) grabbed the lead from post 10. Mirage Hanover (Tim Tetrick) drove on through the quarter in :26 and went by shortly after. Funtime Bayama (Sylvain Filion) then put him in the pocket with a backstretch brush and headed the group to the midway point in :53.4.

Storm Shadow made the first move as the field approached the far turn, making headway on the top three that had separated from the rest. Storm Shadow was four lengths back at three-quarters in 1:23 but struggled to advance further as Funtime Bayama paced strongly down the stretch. The leaders began to waver in the closing stages, and Storm Shadow thundered past them with late pace. Fellow longshot Crush Kill Destroy (Yannick Gingras) also surged late, but Storm Shadow made it home in time to win the Super Final in 1:51.1.

Crush Kill Destroy ran out of racetrack with a half-length to make up. Funtime Bayama held on for third.

“He felt like a nice horse right away, nice and relaxed,” McClure said after the win. “I’d be lying if I said I expected to win but I thought I had a shot at getting a good cheque. […] I don’t think he should’ve paid those odds.”

STORM SHADOW REPLAY

It was Storm Shadow’s third win of the year, and it came on the back of his first in the Ontario Sires Stakes program. The freshman Ian Moore trainee had finished third in two prior Gold events and has not missed a cheque in nine outings. He increased his bankroll to $287,054 with the victory for owners R G McGroup of Bathurst, Serge Savard of St-Bruno, Mac Nichol of Burlington, and Bolton Farms of Clermont. He also lowered his mark by one-and-two-fifth seconds.

Woodbine Mohawk Park hosted the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Finals for two-year-olds on the Friday card. The provincial breeding program will finish its 2023 season on Saturday, Sep. 14 at the same venue with the four Super Finals for three-year-olds going to post. First post is set for 7:10 p.m. EDT, and the featured events are listed as races six through nine.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink