A few hours before being crowned, Ontario-sired prodigy Beau Jangles was dancing slightly in his stall at Woodbine Mohawk Park; ears up, eyes bright, grooving and bobbing slightly like a boxer laser-focused on the battle to come despite it being the 12th bout of his freshman campaign. There wasn’t a hint of weariness.
Beside him, his caretaker, Riley Noble, was grinning. It has been one heck of a ride with the colt Noble said is best described as “cheeky.” It’s a fitting characterization given how the 2-year-old pacer has upset the normal order of things in the North American harness racing business.
A little later that Friday evening (Oct. 24), watching Beau try to overturn his sulky a few times in the winner’s circle after a dominant, record-setting Grade 1 Breeders Crown victory at the Campbellville, ON track looked to be more an act of playful attention-seeking than aggression. Beau had just brushed off top U.S. invaders for the fourth time this season with a 1:48.3 Canadian record to remain undefeated through a dozen career starts.
He concluded his rookie campaign with $1,688,750 in earnings, tops among all North American standardbreds this year regardless of age, plus victories in the Grade 1 $1 million Metro Pace, the $227,100 Battle of Waterloo at Grand River Raceway and all six of his Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) events.
No wonder the colt’s confidence currently matches his imposing stature.
On Wednesday (Oct. 29), many in the harness racing media agreed Beau is something special, despite being a freshman. Voters in the weekly Hambletonian Society / Breeders Crown poll selected Beau Jangles as the #1 horse on the continent over more seasoned Standardbreds and fellow Breeders Crown champs.
The likely favourite to win Canada’s Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year award (named after his grandsire), talk is starting to build that Beau, who is owned entirely by Americans, will get serious consideration for the overall Dan Patch Horse of the Year Award in the United States despite only racing in Ontario, to date.
Cheeky, indeed.
“I say he’s cheeky all the time,” said Noble, who cares for the colt for Hall of Fame trainer Dr. Ian Moore. “[Beau Jangles is] not mean, but he’s not relaxed. He’ll play with you. He can get a little testy, but it’s more cheeky.”
BEAU IS A PRODUCT OF CANADIAN AND U.S. INGENUITY
His talent alone has earned him a growing legion of fans, yet, in a time of rising patriotism and heightened cross-border tensions, that cheeky Ontario-sired and Ontario-bred colt has been especially appealing to Canadians eager to support their own and prove their worth to their U.S. friends.
Yet, Beau is a product of both Canadian and American equine ingenuity.
Beau Jangles likely wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for: a) Boston native Bill Donovan deciding to stand his homebred stallion Cattlewash at Tara Hills Stud in Port Perry, ON and b) U.S. bloodstock agent Bruce Brinkerhoff recommending that Tara Hills owner David Heffering buy mare Mrs Major Hill to breed to Cattlewash.
The result was Beau Jangles, a colt that caught the fancy of Virginia-based owner Adam Ainspan via an impressive yearling video. That led Ainspan and partners to seek out the advice of Moore, who inspected Beau Jangles at last year’s Standardbred Horse Sales Company yearling sale in Harrisburg, PA and ultimately paid $65,000 U.S. for the colt out of the Preferred Equine consignment on behalf of:
- Ainspan and Mary Beth Roberts under the Graham Grace Stables LLC of Clifton, VA
- Anne Hooper and Jonathan Roberts under the Kiwi Stables LLC of La Plata, MD
- Ed, Garth and Philip Bolton, plus John Draper of the Bolton Stables of Clermont, FL
“This horse is a dream,” Brinkerhoff said as he stood next to Heffering in the winner’s circle. “It’s almost like your grandkids or something. It’s thrilling.”
For Heffering, Beau Jangles is the culmination of more than three decades of standing stallions and breeding horses in Ontario at Tara Hills.
“It’s taken 30 years to get here,” Heffering said, clearly emotional. “I know the great [farms], like, Hanover and Brittany, they’ve been doing this for years, but this is a big deal for us. It’s a big deal for everybody, but really for us, and Ontario.”
Not far away, Ainspan and co-owner Jonathan Roberts, a top driver in Maryland, were looking at the winner’s circle scene in awe.
“I own Thoroughbreds, too, and this just never happens,” Ainspan said. “All of my Thoroughbred friends are just in disbelief.”
“It’s pretty amazing on the standardbred side, too,” Roberts said, laughing.
“It’s hard to kick in and realize what he did. I’m just looking forward to next year.”
NOBLE ALSO GROOMED A CHAMPION CANADIAN THOROUGHBRED
Speaking of Thoroughbreds, Noble now holds the rare distinction of looking after both a champion Thoroughbred and a champion Standardbred.
He was the caretaker for four-time British Columbia Horse of the Year Infinite Patience, who won 16 stakes in western Canada, 22 of 32 career starts and over $700,000 for her breeder Bill DeCoursey, who shared her ownership with NHL star Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Infinite Patience was trained by Barbara Anderson-Heads.
“She was quite the racehorse,” Noble said, adding that Standardbreds are more complicated to care for due to equipment, but tend to be more docile to work with otherwise. Beau Jangles might be an exception.
“He reminds me of a Thoroughbred some days when he gets all dancing and stuff,” Noble said, adding that Beau Jangles has come a long way in just a year since he was purchased as a yearling.
“When we first got him out of Harrisburg, he was kind of scared of everything and looking around,” Noble said. “He’s matured a lot.
“He always tries. He wants to please everybody. That’s big in a racehorse. They want to do their job and are happy to do their job.”
That Beau Jangles is often feeling so good after he races that he drags Noble to the paddock is just another sign of that cheekiness.
“He says, ‘We’re going’ and that’s just the way it is,” Noble said with a shrug and a smile.
After all, how could he – or any of us, really – object if Beau Jangles wants to take us for a ride?
CUTLINE:
Dave Landry
Undefeated, Ontario-sired and Ontario-bred Breeders Crown champion Beau Jangles and his caretaker Riley Noble at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
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