Share

Latest Articles  Kennedy Road Stakes  Betty Grable Stakes  Grey & Mazarine Stakes  Breeders Cup Wrap Up  Breeders Cup Saturday

2026 Kennedy Road Stakes Results

The trophy presentation for the Kennedy Road Stakes

With 4 weeks remaining in the Woodbine Thoroughbred season and turf racing already ended, there are few stakes opportunities left to convince the Sovereign Award voters, as some of the top stables have begun to ship south for the winter. The last Grade 2 stakes in Canada for 2026 was contested on Saturday after sunset. Conditions were typical for mid November in Toronto with cloudy skies, intermittent drizzle and a race time temperature of 5.1 C (41.2 F), with fields facing 47 km/h (29 MPH) headwind gusts through the stretch.

The $200,000 bet365 Kennedy Road Stakes (G2) features older horses sprinting 6 furlongs on the Tapeta main track, a race which factors in Sovereign voting in the male sprinter category, and was the only graded stakes scheduled anywhere in North America this weekend. My Boy Prince was sent off as the 2-1 favorite in the field of 7 off a 5th place finish in the Woodford (G2) at Keeneland after finishing 6th in the Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint (G2). In to challenge him included 9-4 second choice Victory Achieved, winner of the Nearctic Stakes (G2), and 9-2 third choice Arbiter, 4th in a Churchill Downs

Arbiter leads while War Strategy rallies down the stretch.

allowance after winning the Woodstock Stakes at Woodbine. 5-1 fourth choice Nobals, winner of the 2024 and 2025 editions, was attempting to be only the second three-peat Kennedy Road winner after Canadian Hall of Fame member Pink Lloyd, but comes in winless since the 2025 Kennedy Road and was third in a Keeneland allowance last out.

At the break, favorite My Boy Prince reared up, unseating jockey Fraser Aebly as Arbiter and Nobals dueled for the early lead out of the chute down the backstretch through an opening quarter in 22.37 and a half in 44.92. Into the stretch Nobals tired as Arbiter opened up a 1 1/2 length lead through 5f in 56.87. 19-2 War Strategy, 6th early under Sahin Civaci, saved ground on the turn and found room between horses to surge to the lead at the 1/16 pole, holding off Arbiter the rest of the way to win by a length in 1:09.77. It was a head back to Victory Achieved third. After a brief stewards' inquiry into the start of the race no action was taken.

Pgm Horse Jockey Win Place Show 6 War Strategy Civaci 20.80 8.90 4.50 2 Arbiter Moran 7.00 4.10 5 Victory Achieved Hernandez 2.80 Winning Time: 1:09.77 $1 Exacta 6-2 75.00 $2 Trifecta 6-2-5 519.80 $2 Superfecta 6-2-5-7 2,971.90 Results chart

Left: War Strategy in the winner's circle. Winning trainer Mike Wright Jr. said, "Actually, the first time he ran for $32,000 (claiming) we looked at him and we passed. And then the second time, we finally went in for him. He's just done everything right. I mean he's lost one race really for us, got beat to Two Out Hero. He's been a very exciting horse."

Right: War Strategy in the post parade. Winning jockey Sahin Civaci said of the start, "There were a few horses that were acting up in the gate. Ours was standing really good until the last moment. Once their horses were ready, mine took a bad step and then it was just bad timing when the gates opened, so he was kind of backwards, so we ended up trailing the field. He has an enormous competitive mindset. He's just an amazing horse, he's a big fighter. He always shows up. He just loves running."

Left: Second place finisher Arbiter in the post parade. The Wesley Ward trainee improved his record to 3 wins, 1 second, and 0 thirds in 6 starts, earning $224,770 for owner Resolution Road Stables

Right: Third place finisher Victory Achieved in the post parade. The Mark Casse trainee improved his record to 5 wins, 4 seconds, and 2 thirds in 15 starts, earning $358,514 for owner-breeder Live Oak Plantation.

Beaten favorite (unseated rider at the start) My Boy Prince exits the indoor paddock. The Mark Casse trainee has a record of 10 wins, 6 seconds, and 2 thirds in 30 starts, earning $1,611,775 for owner Gary Barber.

Meilani wins the Majorette Stakes.

Jockey Christoff Douglas sent 9-1 Bells of Paradise to the lead out of the chute through fractions of 22.11 and 45.00 while pressed by Charmingly Evasive and stalked by Piper's Gift. Turning for home, Bells of Paradise continued to lead through 5f in 57.34 but 6-1 fifth choice Meilani, last early under Rafael Hernandez after bumping at the break, came through on the rail at the 1/8 pole to win by 1/2 a length in 1:10.57. It was a head back to Piper's Gift third.

Results chart

Left: Meilani in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Rafael Hernandez said, "I just look at who's gonna start to pick up more, if it's the 4 [Charmingly Evasive] or the 1 [Bells of Paradise]. So I just wait, wait. I see daylight, let's go."

Right: Meilani in the post parade. Winning trainer Kevin Attard said, "Obviously on paper, there looked like a lot of speed and she likes to play early herself. Sometimes, when you miss the break like that, sometimes it works out in your favour. In this particular case today, it might have helped. Obviously her synthetic form has been really solid. Five-eighths is not her cup of tea and I don't think she's a two-turn horse so sprinting seems like her knack so far and she's been really successful."

Left: Second place finisher Bells of Paradise in the post parade. The Josie Carroll trainee improved her record to 1 win, 2 seconds, and 0 thirds in 4 starts, earning $77,746 for owner-breeder Mark Dodson.

Right: Third place finisher and beaten favorite Piper's Gift in the post parade. The Dale Desruisseaux trainee improved her record to 4 wins, 1 second, and 1 third in 10 starts, earning $325,918 for owner-breeder Chiefswood Stables.

Back to Horse-Races.Net main page