Beau Jangles should buck history in Dan Patch Horse of the Year bid

Here’s why the 2-year-old deserves the top award despite never racing
in the United States.

by Brett Sturman

(Editor’s note: Given that year-end awards are important and the discussion of who should win them can sometimes be divisive – especially when cross-border politics enter the equation – readers should know the columnist is providing one opinion on year-end voting and it is not necessarily the opinion of HRU as a publication. In fact, HRU takes no official position on how people should vote. We wish everyone well in the voting. Also, it’s important to note Mr. Sturman decided on the topic on his own. He was not assigned or encouraged to write it in any way. It’s truly how he feels. As always, whether you agree or disagree we’d like to hear from you at [email protected])

Following events from this past weekend’s Breeders Crown races, it stands to reason that the horse best positioned to win this year’s United States Harness Writers Association’s (USHWA) Dan Patch Horse of the Year award is Beau Jangles. Should voters see it the same way, he would become the first horse to win the Dan Patch Horse of the Year without ever having raced in the United States.

An Ontario-sired son of Cattlewash that sold for $65,000 (USD) as a yearling at Harrisburg last year, his performance in the Breeders Crown was another record breaking one and it completed a perfect 12-for-12 freshman campaign. There’s been no one else perfect this year, or better, in what will go down as one of the best 2-year-old seasons in history.

Aside from geography, it’s rare in any instance for a 2-year-old to be named as the U.S. Horse of the Year. The last 2-year-old to do it was the filly JK She’salady in 2014 (who also had an identical 12-for-12 freshman record). Before that, the only other pacers to accomplish the feat were Niatross in 1979 and before that Bret Hanover in 1964. Nevele Pride is the only trotter to win the award as a 2-year-old, doing so in 1967.

While it would be unprecedented for a horse that’s only known Woodbine Mohawk Park, with the exception of one race at Grand River Raceway (both in Ontario), to win the prestigious Dan Patch Horse of the Year award, it wouldn’t be the first time a horse has won a divisional honor without having raced in the U.S. It’s happened multiple times, as recently as the 2022 racing season and both with 2-year-old pacers.

That year, Ontario-sired star Stockade Seelster was named Dan Patch 2-Year-Old Colt Pacer of the Year over Confederate and Ammo. Then a 2-year-old Sylvia Hanover, who raced exclusively at Mohawk, won the Dan Patch for 2-year-old pacing fillies by almost a 3-to-1 margin over Twin B Joe Fresh. According to the USHWA bylaws to be eligible for the Dan Patch ballot, it requires only that horses must start at least two times in North America.

Though Beau Jangles has never raced in the United States, he has defeated, on multiple occasions, the best horses that the United States has to offer.

After beginning his career six-for-six, which included being the earliest horse to ever pace a 1:50.1 mile when he did so in his very first career start on July 5, Beau Jangles met up in a Metro elimination in September with Al Papi. That one, Al Papi, being a multiple Pennsylvania Sire Stakes (PASS) winner who was two races removed from a 1:49.2 win at The Meadows and coming off a 1:49.3 second-place finish to Frantic Hanover in the PASS final. In that race, Beau Jangles prevailed by denying the new rival and always keeping at least a length between him and Al Papi through the stretch.

That win set up the premier matchup in the following week’s Metro final of the seven-for-seven unbeatens. Someone had to be made the favorite that race, and the betting public went with Frantic Hanover who came into the race with a 1:49.1 mark taken at Harrah’s Philadelphia when winning his PASS final and then went on to win his Metro elimination. But in the final, it was Beau Jangles once again rising to the challenge in what may have been the best Metro final ever. In that $1 million race, he was parked past the quarter in :26 flat by Frantic Hanover and later summoned all his will through the stretch as Frantic Hanover took dead aim off the pocket trip and was able to hold for the 1:49.1 stakes-equaling performance.

In last Friday’s (Oct. 24) Breeders Crown final, it was more of the same. Facing a fresh challenge in Brandon Blvd who had come to Woodbine Mohawk Park the week prior on the heels of wins in the Bluegrass and International Stallion Stakes, he won his Breeders Crown elimination in a time of 1:48.4. But in the final, he couldn’t track down Beau Jangles off a very similar trip to that of Frantic Hanover from the Metro and in the end Beau Jangles held off a familiar name in Al Papi and another Bluegrass and International Stallion Stakes winner in Melillo. The winning time of 1:48.3 marked a new track, stakes, and Canadian record for rookie pacers.

Making the case for Beau Jangles isn’t to take anything away from the other contenders for the award. Though defeated in his Breeders Crown elimination and final, Louprint has been a tremendous story this year. The same could be said for Breeders Crown winner Yo Tillie who has only been once beaten; both of whom seem destined to take home divisional honors. The same is almost certain to hold true in the respective divisional honor categories for Twin B Joe Fresh, Lexus Kody, Emoticon Legacy, and Miki And Minnie.

The smashing and record-setting performances from Beau Jangles should more than offset any natural bias to voters who may have had more awareness of stakes being conducted in the U.S. more than those in Ontario. The same scenario didn’t ultimately change the results in the prior examples of Stockade Seelster or Sylvia Hanover and it shouldn’t change this decision either. Despite being just a 2-year-old having not started his season until July, Beau Jangles’ 12 wins on the season are currently more than any other top horse regardless of any age.

If voters weren’t aware of Beau Jangles a month ago, they most certainly are now. He should win the Dan Patch for Horse of the Year.