Unbeaten ’25 campaign earns Beau Jangles top honours in Canada and U.S.

Beau Jangles has a tough act to follow in 2026.

His own.

The champion harness racer went undefeated last year en route to becoming the first two-year-old horse to earn top honours in both Canada and the U.S. What’s remarkable about the latter is the Ontario-bred Beau Jangles didn’t race at all in 2025 south of the border.

Beau Jangles was also named the U.S.’s top pacer while Lexus Kody, another Ontario-sired and bred hose, captured American trotter-of-the-year honours.

The American-owned Beau Jangles was a perfect 12-for-12 last year. Among the wins were the two biggest Grade 1 stakes for two-year-olds — the $1-million Metro Pace and $959,000 Breeders Crown, which were both run at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Beau Jangles earned over $1.68 million, the most by a freshman pacer and fourth-highest ever by a two-year-old pacer. Beau Jangles posted a record time of one minute 48.3 seconds in the Breeders’ Crown final, the fastest mile ever by a two-year-old in Canada.

Beau Jangles became the first two-year-old male pacer to earn horse-of-the-year honours in both Canada and the U.S. Beau Jangles also is just the fifth two-year-old to win the U.S. Dan Patch award in its 78-year history.

“He’s won everything we could ever imagine him winning, and I never imagined that it would ever happen,” part-owner Jonathan Roberts told Ontario Racing. “I’m still in awe of Breeders Crown night, where he actually finished the year undefeated.

“It’s one of those things you always kind of hope is going to happen, but then it happens, and you don’t even think it’s real. It took a while for that to set in and then for him to go on and win these awards, it’s just been unreal. I don’t know if a horse has absolutely swept the awards in a long time, or a freshman has ever done it.”

Added principal owner Adam Ainspan: “There’s only four horses who’ve been two-year-olds and undefeated that have been horse of the year in thoroughbred or standardbred racing, ever. So, it’s just really incredible. We certainly saw his talent but never expected this.”

Beau Jangles was bred by Tara Hills Stud in Port Perry, Ont. The colt was sold for US$65,000 at the ’24 Standardbred Horse Sales Company yearling auction in Harrisburg, Pa.

Beau Jangles is driven by Bob McClure, a resident of Rockwood, Ont., and regular at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Dr. Ian Moore, of Cambridge, Ont., is Beau Jangles’ Ontario-based trainer and veterinarian. Coincidently, Moore was named Canada’s top trainer for 2025 while also receiving the O’Brien award of horsemanship.

“It (U.S. horse of the year award) was quite an honour, and it’s even more of an honour when he never left (Canada),” Moore said. “It probably means more (to win horse of the year in U.S.).”

Moore actually drove Beau Jangles in the horse’s first qualifier before giving way to Louis-Philippe Roy, of Mont-Joli, Que., for the second. However, in July, Roy faced a prior racing commitment so McClure took over driving duties.

“Maybe it’s karma, maybe it’s not, I don’t know,” McClure said. “You take the good fortune, and you do the best you can with it.

“But I think anybody, anybody in the top-100 drivers in North America, could have sat behind this guy and done exactly the same thing.”

What’s scary is Roberts believes Beau Jangles is bigger, stronger and just getting started. And the horse is expected to race south of the border in 2026.

“I think it’s an unbelievable thing for the business,” Roberts said. “Every few years, it seems like we get a horse that catches people’s attention.

“You know, there’s a Jiggy Jog, or there’s a Bulldog Hanover, a Somebeachsomewhere, or some horse to that effect. To have a freshman do this and have all this anticipation and everything moving into next year, I think it’s going to create a buzz that the industry definitely needs, and it’s going to be unreal for the sport.”

Lexus Kody was bred by Norm Dunstan of Caledon, Ont., and driven mostly by Yannick Gingras, a native of Sorel, Que., who also races in the U.S.

Between Aug. 30 and Nov. 15, Lexus Kody won five-of-six graded stake races. The seven-year-old gelding became the first Ontario-sired horse to win the Yonkers International Trot in September, posting a record time of 1:49.1.

Lexus Kody led all North American horses in earnings with over $1.8 million, a total that ranks second all-time for North American purses for an older trotter.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2026.