More in store from So Much More

by Melissa Keith

Starting from the outermost post position on Friday (Feb. 20) at Woodbine Mohawk Park, So Much More (p, 7, 1:49.1s; $1,396,972) was sent off at her longest odds since winning at 18-1 in the Nov. 7, 2025 filly and mare open. Down in class from the distaff open, So Much More was assigned driver Tyler Borth after Doug McNair, aboard for her previous upset, became unavailable. Borth and the 10-year-old mare have history together: He was in the sulky for her first Ontario win, in a May 31, 2019 Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots division for 3-year-old filly pacers at The Raceway at Western Fair. The daughter of Big Jim—Ladysai joined the stable of trainer Don Beatson for that race, and has remained there ever since, earning titles as O’Brien Older Pacing Mare of the Year in 2020, 2022, and 2023.

Overlooked at 11-1 on the Mohawk tote board, with a morning line of 6-1, So Much More got away fourth in last week’s start, clearing leader Glenboro past the :28.3 opening quarter. Facing the first-over charge of Coco Jo Jo past a tepid :58.4 half, Borth’s mare maintained a narrow advantage as the field reached three-quarters in 1:27.3. Holding on over the tiring surface, So Much More was a half-length winner in 1:54.3. It was her 79th career victory, celebrated by owners Don Beatson of Granton, ON, son Kenneth Beatson of Palgrave, ON, and his nephew Cole England of Exeter, ON.

A 10-year-old racemare of So Much More’s ongoing caliber is a rarity. Most would have been retired to broodmare life soon after initially reaching such success. Her racing days began in the Maritime provinces with trainer Tom Weatherbie and regular driver Mark Bradley. Sold for $19,000 (CND) at the 2017 Atlantic Classic Sale, the filly bred by Doug MacPhee of New Haven, PEI, distinguished herself at the top level in Canada over her impressive — and lengthy — career. So Much More has never raced south of the border, but has taken on the best of her kind in the Forest City Pace, Roses Are Red (Gr. 1), Milton Stake (Gr. 2), and Breeders Crown (Gr. 1), and even beat male pacers in the Mohawk preferred and free for all.

With a reputation for gameness, So Much More can never be counted out.

“I’m not sure why [the odds] jumped up so high at the very end [on Feb. 20], but I guess I understand some people’s thinking,” said Kenn Beatson, looking back on So Much More’s most recent win. “She had been off for over a month. Most of her life, I think a lot of people kind of knew that she always seemed to be sharper the more she raced. She was maybe always that little bit better when she had raced at least the week before, if not the previous two weeks, so that might have weighed into their thinking a little bit. She had the 8-hole; there were some reasons, I guess, to maybe not like her in that race.”

Those reasons proved unfounded, because So Much More has adapted to a routine that better suits her current era.

“At this age, my belief is that time off actually helps her at this point, at her age,” Beatson said. “She seems to come back really refreshed and just that little bit sharper than she might if she’s racing every week. It’s actually kind of the opposite of what it was her whole life, that the time off is actually a good thing now.”

Approaching 80 wins in a 211-race career, So Much More was returning to the distaff open Friday (Feb. 27) night at Mohawk.

“It’s a big, big number, and I think it was November that she won the [Mohawk mares] open class, and by my count, that was her 50th win at the preferred/open/free for all/invitational level, so that was a pretty big deal. I don’t know how many horses have ever done that!” Beatson said.

Rumours of retirement swirled around the time that So Much More took to the track for the 2025 Forest City Pace on May 30. She and driver James MacDonald finished a fast-closing third (at 16-1) behind winner Caviar N Crackers that night at The Raceway at Western Fair. Then, after a rare ninth-place result on June 14 at Mohawk, the fan favorite mare disappeared from the public eye.

“At the very end of the breeding season, we decided to breed her,” Beatson said. “It was kind of just a last-minute decision and we bred her to Cattlewash, but she didn’t catch, so that was our only shot, because it was too late, at that point, to try again.”

After a summer vacation at Don Beatson’s farm, where she is stabled, So Much More showed that she wanted to keep racing.

“We gave her some time off and we kind of unofficially just retired her,” said Kenn. “The intent was just to wait for the [breeding] season to start again in February… After a few weeks, three months — I forget exactly how much time it was — she really seemed to respond to the time off, just being turned out in the field. She was looking really good and feeling herself, and we just threw the harness back on her and started jogging her a bit again. We brought her back and then she came back really sharp.”

So Much More made her comeback Sept. 7 at Clinton Raceway, wiring two other pacers in a going-away 1:57.4 trip. After another qualifier, finishing second to Nijinsky on Sept. 19 at Mohawk, individually timed in 1:52.1, her owners knew the 9-year-old mare was ready to race. Although fourth on Sept. 26 at Mohawk, So Much More and Doug McNair were front-end winners Oct. 3, holding off Angostura Hanover in 1:49.4.

“She came back really refreshed and raced really good,” Kenn said. “I mean, at this age, she seems to have a few more little things that come up than she did when she was younger. When she was younger, she seemed like she was bulletproof; she never had anything come up or bother her or have any little minor afflictions at all. But [now], she’s seemed to have a few more of those come up.

“In fact, just recently, when she was off for just over a month, the reason why she didn’t race was [because] she had an eye infection. It was concerning; it was bad enough that we had to keep a close eye on it and treat it pretty closely for a few weeks, but she got over it. She ended up getting a month off in the middle of the winter there [Jan. 17-Feb. 20], when it was probably a good thing anyway. I mean, it’s an hour-and-a-half drive for us to Mohawk, and she couldn’t get her full jogging in every day, because there were days where it was just too stormy or wintery.”

So Much More was treated with two different kinds of eye drops and wore a mask to protect her eye from UV rays when turned out. Beatson said there was no obvious cause for the sudden eye injury, which is now completely healed.

Kenn told HRU that his father Don had recently turned 84 and So Much More kept him “doing what he loves,” albeit “kind of taking it on a race to race, month by month, basis” as the family decides if and when to breed the mare this year.

“We’re assessing it and we probably will retire and breed her here at some point, but she loves racing,” Kenn said. “She’s so tough and she still has that speed and desire to go, so if she keeps going, we’ll keep racing her for a while, anyway.”

Kenn agreed that even in the paddock, So Much More that they call “Sophie,” has an unmatched game face that conveys her eagerness to return to battle.

“That’s the thing, she hasn’t lost her desire to race one iota,” Kenn said. “We’re not going to race her until she can’t, or until she gets to a cheaper level. We won’t do that, because she deserves more, but she’s not really there. She’s still got a lot of go and speed and desire.”

When So Much More eventually becomes a broodmare, the family plans to keep her, with decisions to be made later about retaining or selling her offspring. Kenn wondered aloud about how a mare’s age impacts the price of her yearling foals at public auction, perhaps unfairly.

“I always figured that, genetically, it didn’t make any difference, but I think there might be a perception out there that older [dams] are not as good, but it is what it is,” he said.

As So Much More closes in on $2-million Canadian, Kenn estimates it would take about two years to make up the difference, given the mare’s lighter schedule and retreat from Grand Circuit events.

“They don’t have the same spring in their step, or it might take a day longer to bounce back from a hard race or something like that,” he said. “We’ve always said about all our horses, not just this one, that they tell you when it’s time for a break or some time off or, in her case, possibly retirement. You can tell, and she hasn’t told us that yet. In fact, it’s the opposite, she wants to be out there.”