The Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society sends warm wishes to all for a wonderful holiday season and happy and healthy 2025. Thanks to Brooke Luke for this wonderful photo of Frightful Watch (aka Kevin) and Weatherly (Wes) who she adopted from OSAS a few years back. At the time she had no idea the pair were former stablemates in the Julie Walker barn. That story was a feature on OSAS and may be read Racing Buddies Together Again In Retirement

The Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society congratulates the winners of our annual Second Chance Raffle and sincerely thanks all who donated prizes and purchased tickets. The winners were drawn on a live Facebook post on Friday (December 13) evening by Emma Christoforou, who co-ordinated this year’s event once again with the assistance of her mother, OSAS’s Joanne Colville, and dedicated long time volunteer Jean Posthuma. This year 19 baskets were offered with varying values and included a myriad of wonderful items including Toronto Maple Leaf tickets, a full harness, various horse supplies, cosmetics and much more. The following is a list of this year’s baskets and their lucky winner. Emma will reach out to the winners to organize pick up and/or delivery. Thanks again to everyone for their participation in this always popular fundraiser. Our horses appreciate your support. 2024 Santa’s Second Chance Raffle Winners BASKET WINNER Basket 1 Nat Steacy Get Western Two $25 Pleasant Ridge Gift Certificates, The Hat Effect, Bushel Barn and $100 Greenhawk gift certificate. Basket 2 Zara Thurgood Leaf Tickets Two tickets to Toronto Maple Leafs (January 29, 2025). Value approx. $600. Basket 3 Sue Brookes Marlies Night Four tickets to Toronto Marlies vs. Bakersfield Condors (December 14, 2024). Basket 4 Dianne Currie Date Night Two gift certificates to Jakes Oyster House ($50 each), Yuk Yuks at Grand River, $100 Keg & $50 & $25 multi restaurant cards. Basket 5 Cathy Walsh Wildwinds 4 golf passes to Wildwinds Golf Course, value $320. Basket 6 Cathy Walsh Lucky Lotto $170 worth of lottery tickets. Basket 7 Sheri Whitworth Preserves Assorted homemade preserves, heated blanket, holiday cutting board, dish towels and three in one wireless charging station. Basket 8 Derek Reid Granite Ridge Four golf passes to Granite Ridge golf club. Approx. value $360. Basket 9 Debi O’Brien Moran Chocolate Lovers Large assortment of a variety of chocolates. Basket 10 Nat Steacy Equine Oil 1 18L bucket Smart Earth Camelina Oil Basket 11 Rena Soundy Girls’ Night Assortment of wine, coolers, shots. Value $170. Basket 12 Sally Roberts Chevy GMC travel mug, t-shirt & toque. Basket 13 Bethany Bahr Self-Care/Beauty Basket A myriad of wonderful self-care and beauty products. Value: $1,700. Basket 14 Nat Steacy Horse Care Two gallons Smart Earth Camelina Oil, gift certificate, clean kit, riding socks and $100 Greenhawk gift card. Basket 15 Rena Soundy Happy Gilmore OSAS golf merchandise, golf balls and ball cap. Basket 16 Chris Ruhl Complete Harness Includes blind bridle, lines, handholds, Buxton, race halter (winner can select colour). Basket 17 Arabella Kanter Horse Lovers $100 gift card to MareFlare equestrian & a variety of horse care products. Basket 18 Arlene McIntrye Racing Night Dinner for two at Mohawk, Mohawk swag & a handmade wooden clock. Basket 19 Alyson Roberts Cosmo For Her A wide variety of women’s cosmetics. Value: $900. 

The Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society is pleased to once again host a Christmas Second Chance Raffle named to reflect our mission to give retired Standardbreds a second chance and forever home. How it works is you view the 19 baskets being offered this year at the Facebook page Santa's Second Chance Raffles. Select the ones you wish to bid on and purchase however many tickets you want for it. Ticket prices are $2 or $5 depending upon the basket. Brief descriptions may be found below, fuller descriptions on the FB page. Tickets may be purchased up until December 12 at midnight. The winners will be drawn the following evening live on Facebook (time to be determined based on racing schedules). To pay please send e-transfer to santassecondchanceraffles@gmail.com or give cash to either Joanne Colville or Emma Christoforou at Mohawk or Flamboro. We encourage folks to purchase their tickets early to help our volunteers stay organized. Any questions please call or text Joanne at 905-339-6748 or email osashorses@gmail.com. Thanks to everyone who supports this fundraiser, contributed to the baskets and helps behind the scenes. Our horses appreciate everyone’s efforts. 2024 Santa’s Second Chance Raffle Baskets Basket 1 Get Western - $2/ticket Two $25 Pleasant Ridge Gift Certificates, The Hat Effect, Bushel Barn and $100 Greenhawk gift certificate. Basket 2 Leaf Tickets - $5/ticket Two tickets to Toronto Maple Leafs (January 29, 2025). Value approx. $600. Basket 3 Marlies Night - $2/ticket Four tickets to Toronto Marlies vs. Bakersfield Condors (December 14, 2024). Basket 4 Date Night - $2/ticket Two gift certificates to Jakes Oyster House ($50 each), Yuk Yuks at Grand River, $100 Keg & $50 & $25 multi restaurant cards. Basket 5 Wildwinds - $2/ticket 4 golf passes to Wildwinds Golf Course, value $320. Basket 6 Lucky Lotto - $2/ticket $170 worth of lottery tickets. Basket 7 Preserves - $2/ticket Assorted homemade preserves, heated blanket, holiday cutting board, dish towels and three in one wireless charging station. Basket 8 Granite Ridge - $2/ticket Four golf passes to Granite Ridge golf club. Approx. value $360. Basket 9 Chocolate Lovers - $2/ticket Large assortment of a variety of chocolates. Basket 10 Equine Oil - $2/ticket 1 18L bucket Smart Earth Camelina Oil Basket 11 Girls’ Night - $2/ticket Assortment of wine, coolers, shots. Basket 12 Chevy - $2/ticket GMC travel mug, t-shirt & toque. Basket 13 Self-Care/Beauty Basket - $2/ticket A myriad of wonderful self-care and beauty products. Value: $1,700. Basket 14 Horse Care - $2/ticket Two gallons Smart Earth Camelina Oil, gift certificate, clean kit, riding socks and $100 Greenhawk gift card. Basket 15 Happy Gilmore - $2/ticket OSAS golf merchandise, golf balls and ball cap. Basket 16 Complete Harness - $5/ticket Includes blind bridle, lines, handholds, Buxton, race halter (winner can select colour). Basket 17 Horse Lovers - $2/ticket $100 gift card to MareFlare equestrian & a variety of horse care products. Basket 18 Racing Night - $2/ticket Dinner for two at Mohawk, Mohawk swag & a handmade wooden clock. Basket 19 Cosmo For Her - $2/ticket A wide variety of women’s cosmetics. Value: $900.

The Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society is pleased to offer an additional way to donate funds which benefits everyone. By donating stocks, securities or mutual funds in kind it allows the person donating to claim a higher rate on their taxes in addition to supporting OSAS. Essentially a win/win for all. “We have arranged that OSAS can now accept and issue charitable receipts for stock donations. For stocks with large accrued gains this is a terrific opportunity to support a great cause and get a great tax benefit,” explained long time owner Clay Horner. OSAS recently found a forever home for A Rockaway Bay, a half-brother to Clay’s talented pacer Doonbeg. It’s best to make the donation before the end of a calendar year to be able to claim it on the current year’s taxes. To learn more about this opportunity please click here . OSAS is working with the Royal Bank of Canada on this venture. To access the information to make a donation please click here .

Iron horse Windsong Grayson, a 10 year-old gelding by Santanna Blue Chip, is the latest addition to the OSAS roster. The tough campaigner faced the gate 222 times in his long career and retired with a summary of 35-21-24 with $174,000 in the bank. The adaptable pacer was claimed an incredible 19 times over his long career which spanned from age three through 10. He will have time to decompress before he starts training for his next career. Anyone who has followed raced in the province is familiar with Grayson’s family. His dam, Windsong Grand Ave, was a solid campaigner earning $275,000 while his grandam, Jasper Avenue took in more than a half million dollars in her career. Windsong Grayson was featured on COSA TV last year and that segment may be watched here.