Celebrating The Bulldog

August 30, 2023

The Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society will be hosting a fun fundraiser at Woodbine Mohawk Park this weekend in celebration of the fastest Standardbred of all time, Bulldog Hanover.


Trained and owned by his trainer Jack Darling and Brad Grant, Bulldog Hanover enjoyed a 2022 season that was beyond compare. In addition to becoming the swiftest harness horse ever with his 1:45.4 effort in the William Haughton final at the Meadowlands, he won 14 of 16 races and $1.8 million to give him a total of $2.7 million lifetime.


Now retired and standing stud at Seelster Farms in Lucan, Ontario, Bulldog concluded his illustrious racing career being inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and named Horse of the Year on both sides of the border.


This Saturday night, September 2, Mohawk will be celebrating Bulldog’s career and fans (19 and older) will have the opportunity to try the special lager named in his honour, Bulldog Brew. The beer was first introduced by Western Fair Raceway during their signature race night this past May. 


One dollar from the sale of each tall boy can of Bulldog Brew on Saturday at Mohawk will go towards the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society, the official adoption agency for harness horses in the province for close to 30 years. Fans have the opportunity to support OSAS, which has found forever loving homes for more than 1,000 pacers and trotters.


OSAS will also have booths inside and outside the grandstand where patrons can purchase merchandise and/or make a donation. Every Saturday through the summer OSAS provides a horse for the very popular Meet & Greet which gives folks attending the races a chance to see a horse up close and have their photo taken with them. This Saturday’s horse is the uniquely coloured trotter The Painted Pony. 


In addition to the Bulldog Hanover celebrations, Mohawk’s stakes laden card also includes the Canadian Pacing Derby and Maple Leaf Trot finals as well as Simcoe Stakes divisions and Ontario Sires Stakes Gold events. Post time is 7:10 p.m.

OSAS Turns 30

June 9, 2026
The Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society is proud to be celebrating our 30 th anniversary in 2026. Over those three decades we have fostered second careers and found forever homes for hundreds of pacers and trotters. A main component of OSAS’s mandate is to showcase the versatility of the Standardbred horse, a goal which has been reached with so many graduates enjoying second careers as riding horses. Some disciplines include trail or distance riding, dressage, pleasure, etc. One of our graduates, Masseno, is currently a member of the Canadian Cowgirls Precision Drill team. To celebrate this milestone, we have launched our “30 Years, 30 Stories” campaign which will feature horses and people who have contributed to OSAS’s success and will be released throughout the year. These can be read and viewed on our website osas.ca and on our Facebook page. We have also commissioned a limited series of t-shirts featuring the incredibly talented Beau Jangles, one of the best Ontario-bred pacers of all time. These will be available for sale throughout the year at various racetracks and online. To everyone who has supported OSAS, our horses and our volunteers, a very sincere thank you. We look forward to finding forever homes for our wonderful breed for many years to come. Donations at osas.ca are always appreciated.

Spotlight On James Arthur

June 9, 2026
The star of the most recent OSAS Pathways by Matthew Loman is James Arthur who will be heading to his forever home this week. To read the full story please click OSAS Pathways: James Arthur - Woodbine Mohawk Park

Positive Finish For Bettor Notbitter

May 8, 2026
“I would like to thank driver Phil Hudon, Mohawk’s starting gate crew and track maintenance team, OSAS’ financial support, the veterinarians, blacksmiths, caregivers, and, in particular, Joanne Colville, for not giving up on Bettor Notbitter. He deserved the effort,” notes Dr. Julie Ballinger. Her comments are part of the latest installment of OSAS pathways written by Matthew Loman and featuring iron horse Bettor Notbitter who is now enjoying a wonderful retirement after a journeyman career with a scary conclusion. To read the full story please click below. OSAS Pathways: Bettor Notbitter - Woodbine Mohawk Park

Wheels Enjoying Life

April 27, 2026
Wheels On Fire, a prolific race horse who hails from pacing royalty, is the latest horse profiled in OSAS Pathways by WEG’s Matthew Loman. A winner of over $1 million during his racing career, Wheels is enjoying his training for his second career as a riding horse. The full story may be read: OSAS Pathways: Wheels On Fire - Woodbine Mohawk Park

KJ Owen Enjoying Retirement

March 23, 2026
After a 10 year racing career which saw him face the gate close to 300 times, KJ Owen is now learning the ropes as a riding horse. His lessons are going well, although he did take his trainer, Bert Mollica, for an unexpected ride in the early going. Matthew Loman profiles the 12 year-old gelding in the latest OSAS Pathways which may be read here.

Nutzz N Boltzz And Reven Up Featured

March 12, 2026
“Having ridden and owned a variety of horses over the last 35 years, the Standardbreds are the most honest ones out there. They are so loyal, smart, safe and sound, they don’t have many bad or off days it seems. So, for that I will forever be grateful,” notes Fran Brethour when speaking of her OSAS graduates Nutzz N Boltzz and Reven Up. Fran praises her Standardbreds in the latest OSAS Pathways feature by Matthew Loman which may be read through the link below. https://woodbine.com/mohawk/mohawk-insider/osas-pathways-nutzz-n-boltzz-reven-up/ 

KJ Owen Joins OSAS

March 6, 2026
OSAS is pleased to welcome the iron tough KJ Owen to their roster. A 12 year-old gelding by Roll With Joe, KJ Owen faced the gate an incredible 297 time over his 10 year career. He recorded his 50 th lifetime win in April of last year at Flamboro with Austin Sorrie at the controls. Upon his retirement in January of this year he sported a summary of 52-41-38 for $311,000 banked. The first foal of Winsmith Jess, KJ Owen raced primarily in the US at various racetracks. His first Canadian start was in January of 2025 at Mohawk. He has two brothers with earnings over $200,000 – KJ Hunter and KJ Leo both of whom are still racing at Monticello Raceway. Owen is now at Susan and Bert Mollica’s foster farm where he will be trained for his second career.

Second Career For Steel Reserve

February 28, 2026
“I’ve never seen a horse with the emotions he’s shown. When he first arrived, my husband and I were both like, ‘We don’t know what to do.’ We had never seen a horse cry before but there were literal tears in his eyes,” said Susan Mollica of OSAS graduate Steel Reserve. Bert Mollica used a different training technique with the warhorse whose second career will be somewhat unique. His story is profiled in the latest installment of OSAS Pathways by Matthew Loman and may be read here.

OSAS Auction Closed

February 22, 2026
The Ontario Stallion Adoption Society’s 2026 Stallion Auction has now closed. Breedings to 16 sires from Ontario and PEI were offered over the past four days. OSAS extends sincere appreciation to everyone who contributed to the success of this year’s auction including the stallion owners, the stud farms and everyone who placed a bid. Congratulations to the successful bidders and the best of luck. To view the full list of stallions and buyers please click here.

OSAS Stallion Auction Closes Friday At Noon

February 19, 2026
Please be advised that the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society’s 2026 Stallion auction will close Friday, February 20 th at noon. It is important to note that the end time can be extended to a maximum of 30 minutes on each of the 16 stallion breedings available if there is continued bidding. You are notified by email and/or text (if you select that option) if you are the winning bidder and if someone has outbid you. This year OSAS is using 32 Auctions as their auction platform site. Here is the explanation of how the extended bidding works: How does Extended Bidding work? If an item receives a bid during the final three (3) minutes of the auction, the item end time will be extended to allow for 3 additional minutes of bidding. This process repeats until no new bids are received during the final 3 minutes of the item bidding window or the auction has been extended for a maximum of 30 minutes beyond the original end time. When an auction is extended, you'll see Extended Bidding messages displayed throughout the auction with a link for easily viewing all of the extended items. For further information on this feature, and an example, please click here. Here is the link to the actual auction site.
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