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Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield celebrates his 2000th career win with Lady Speightspeare in the Nassau Stakes. |
There were four graded stakes at Woodbine on Saturday, headlined by the $200,000 Highlander Stakes (G2) for older horses sprinting 6 furlongs on the main E.P. Taylor turf course. Conditions were excellent in Southern Ontario on the first Saturday in July, with partly cloudy skies and a post time temperature of 29C (84F), with the turf course rated firm (GoingStick 11.1). Voodoo Zip was sent off as the 2-1 favorite in the field of 11, making his stakes debut off an allowance win at Belmont on May 29. In to challenge him included 9-2 second choice and last year's winner Silent Poet off his fifth place finish in the Jacques Cartier (G3), and 5-1 third choice Arzak, off wins in the Thorncliffe and the Jacques Cartier.
Bound for Nowhere rallies down the center in the stretch. |
Pgm Horse Jockey Win Place Show 10 Bound for Nowhere Morales 13.00 7.30 5.10 11 Arzak Kimura 7.10 6.10 6 White Flag Fukumoto 13.50 Winning Time: 1:08.01 $1 Exacta 10-11 40.90 $2 Trifecta 10-11-6 613.00 $2 Superfecta 10-11-6-7 3,527.95Results chart |
Left: Bound for Nowhere in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Pedro Morales said, "For a second, I thought I might be a little closer, but it worked out perfectly. A lot of horses came out together head and head and I was able to drop in and save a little bit of ground. He was very powerful all the way around there. I was sitting on a ton of horse. I was following a couple that I thought would carry me, but it seemed like everybody sort of stayed together. I was getting a little worried there but I'm glad I was able to work out a trip. When I put him in the clear, and he felt a little bit of room, he just took off."
Right: Bound for Nowhere heads back to the barn after the race.
Left: Bound for Nowhere in the paddock before the race. Morales added, "If [trainer] Wesley Ward wants you to come to Woodbine, I'm going to come to Woodbine. I had no idea what horse it was, of course for my surprise, for a great surprise, I looked at the horse and I'm like, ‘Well, you’re put on an awesome horse.’ I was really excited to be here."
Right: Bound for Nowhere returns after the race.
Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite Arzak returns after the race. the Mike Trombetta trainee improved his record to 5 wins, 2 seconds, and 1 third in 14 starts, earning $284,425 for owner Sonata Stable.
Right: Third place finisher White Flag in the paddock. The Roger Attfield trainee improved his record to 6 wins, 2 seconds, and 5 thirds in 23 starts, earning $531,209 for owner-breeder Robert Evans.
Fifth place finisher and beaten favorite Voodoo Zip in the paddock. The Christophe Clement trainee has a record of 4 wins, 6 seconds, and 3 thirds in 15 starts, earning $273,495 for owner West Point Thoroughbreds.
Lady Speightspeare (inside) and Crystal Cliffs (outside) dead heat for win in the Nassau Stakes (G2). |
Jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson sent favorite Lady Speightspeare to the lead through fractions of 23.26, 45.85, and 1:08.46 while pressed by 8-1 Dreaming of Drew and stalked by Our Flash Drive. Turning for home, Our Flash Drive poked her head in front setting up a duel to the line, the pair getting 7f in 1:20.06. In the final furlong, jockey Rafael Hernandez sent Crystal Cliffs 5 wide to rally past the tiring Our Flash Drive and quickly close on Lady Speightspeare. The pair hit the line together in 1:32.40. After a lengthy delay for the photo finish, the result was a dead heat for win between Lady Speightspeare and Crystal Cliffs. It was a length back to Our Flash Drive third.
Left: Lady Speightspeare in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson said, "Leave it to Mr. Roger Attfield, dual Hall of Famer, to have his 2,000th victory have an epic story behind it. He's legendary, and you know this filly is pretty special. She's tries her guts out all winter, to come back home. I said to Roger, ‘She looks happy to be home.’ And he said, ‘Yes, she does.’ She ran a gangbuster of a race. She fought tooth and nail when Patrick [Husbands aboard Our Flash Drive] went by us on the outside, fought tooth and nail to get back in front of them, and then fought off a challenger to the best of her ability and still secure a win."
Right: Lady Speightspeare heads back to the barn. This win was Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield's 2000th. Attfield said, "It's great, isn't it? I've never really thought too much about it until just recently when it's been so much written about it. I don't know where it works out on the amount of runners I've had, but you know, lots of people have won 2,000 races, but most of them run a lot of horses too. So, I'm very proud of it. And you know, it's been it's been a good travel. She's an interesting filly to train and she was unlucky this winter. Churchill was a disaster with that turf course. It's funny really because the jockey that rode her came back and said, you know, she wasn't having it with the turf course, the turf course was too loose, and then it turned out that it wasn't really ready to run."
Left: Crystal Cliffs in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Rafael Hernandez said, "When I saw Roger over there, I said I cannot let him go too easy making the 2,000. I had to make it harder. So that's why we had to have the dead heat. It was good trip. It was a good pace up in front. Changing gears down the lane, she stuck every step, every step she did it better and better."
Right: Crystal Cliffs heads back to the barn after the race. The Graham Motion trainee improved her record to 4 wins, 3 seconds, and 2 thirds in 9 starts, earning $235,666 for owners Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, and Wonder Stables.
Left: Lady Speightspeare and Crystal Cliffs return together after the race.
Right: Third place finisher Our Flash Drive heads out to the track before the race. The Mark Casse trainee improved her record to 3 wins, 2 seconds, and 1 third in 10 starts, earning $265,520 for owner-breeder Live Oak Plantation.
Rondure wins the Marine Stakes (G3) |
Jockey Ademar Santos sent Ironstone to the lead first time by through fractions of 24.59, 49.06, and 1:12.74 while pressed by Rondure and stalked by Mannix and 11-1 Allegorical. Turning for home, jockey Rafael Hernandez asked Rondure to challenge and he easily took over the lead through 1 mile in 1:37.19. Kept to task by Hernandez, Rondure drew off late to win by 5 1/2 lengths over late-running 5-1 fourth choice Duke of Love in 1:43.57. It was a neck back to favorite Ironstone third.
Left: Rondure in the winner's circle. He is Ontario-bred and nominated to the Queen's Plate. Winning trainer Katerina Vassilieva said, "I was worried about the short timeline between the Queenston and this race. There were a few question marks there. But, boy, it didn't seem like a factor at all today. I just told [Rafael Hernandez] to save as much ground as he could and come from behind. I wasn't sure where exactly he was going to find himself because in the first race, he was more forwardly placed than the last race in the Queenston. So, I just left that up to Rafi. I just wanted him to stay out of trouble and get it as clean of a trip as he could."
Right: Rondure returns to the barn after the race. Vassilieva, asked about the Plate added, "Excited, of course. But business as usual when it comes to the horse. I'm just going to do what I always do try to take the best care as I can of the horse, do right by him, and hopefully we get to the Plate and get to have some fun."
Left: Second place finisher Duke of Love heads out to the track before the race. the Josie Carroll trainee improved his record to 2 wins, 1 second, and 0 thirds in 5 starts, earning $121,850 for owner MyRacehorse.
Right: Third place finisher and beaten favorite Ironstone returns after the race. The Willie Armata trainee improved his record to 2 wins, 3 seconds, and 3 thirds in 9 starts, earning $275,671 for owners Tequesta Racing Inc. and Jupiter Leasing Co.
The horses break from the gate for the Marine Stakes.
Souper Hoity Toity wins the Selene Stakes (G3). |
Jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson sent 13-1 Join the Dance to the front first time by through fractions of 25.19, 49.84 and 1:13.89 while pressed by 8-1 Souper Hoity Toity and stalked by Mrs. Barbara. Turning for home Join the Dance tired as Souper Hoity Toity and jockey Patrick Husbands took over the lead through 1 mile in 1:38.60. Favorite Catiche, 6th early under Kazushi Kimura, put in a strong 4 wide rally but Souper Hoity Toity held her off to win by 3/4 length in 1:45.11. It was another 1 3/4 lengths back to Mrs. Barbara third.
Left: Souper Hoity Toity in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Patrick Husbands said, "Once we left the gate, I could see the speed horse [Catiche] missed the break, and no one wanted the lead. My horse was a little bit rank to me. I tried to get across, and then everybody was rushing in. Everybody did the same as me. I turned my horse loose, so we had a fight for position in the first turn. I tried not to let Emma [Wilson] get things the way she was going. My filly was going so easy down the back, and as I went up the sixteenth and the half, towards Emma, she went on and I sat and sat, then chased her down."
Right: Souper Hoity Toity heads out to the track before the race.
Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite Catiche in the post parade. The Jonathan Thomas trainee improved her record to 2 wins, 4 seconds, and 1 third in 8 starts, earning $151,361 for owner Augustin Stable.
Right: Third place finisher Mrs. Barbara returns after the race. The Mark Casse trainee improved her record to 2 wins, 2 seconds, and 2 thirds in 10 starts, earning $187,776 for owner Spruce Stable.
The horses break from the gate for the Selene Stakes.
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