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 John Velazquez celebrates aboard No Time after winning his first Woodbine Oaks.
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On Sunday at Woodbine, the two major local preps for the King's Plate Stakes, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, were contested over the Tapeta main track. Conditions were typical for late July in Toronto with sunny skies and a daytime high temperature of 27.5 C (81.5 F), with the E.P. Taylor turf course good-to-firm (GoingStick reading 10.1) after overnight rain. The highlight race of the afternoon was the 70th running of the $500,000 Stella Artois Woodbine Oaks, featuring top Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles, kicking off the Triple Tiara series. A field of 12 made final entry with Shifty sent off as the 2-1 favorite off her third place finish in the Fury Stakes on June 7 after winning an allowance to start her 2025 season. In to challenge her included 5-2 second choice Winterberry, winner of the Fury after finishing 5th in the Star Shoot, and 6-1 third choice Aristella, 4th in the Fury after finishing 5th in the Ruling Angel.
 Down the stretch with No Time rallying down the center. |
Pgm Horse Jockey Win Place Show 8 No Time Velazquez 15.50 6.20 4.50 5 Shifty Civaci 3.80 2.80 11 Winterberry Husbands 3.10 Winning Time: 1:50.14 $1 Exacta 8-5 26.70 $0.20 Trifecta 8-5-11 18.15 $0.20 Superfecta 8-5-11-12 318.75 |
Left: No Time in the winner's circle. Winning jockey John Velazquez, celebrating his first Woodbine Oaks win, said, "We know it's going to be a lot of pace in the race, so I wanted to see how it developed and developed in front of us. She held her ground pretty well going to the first turn. So, kind of held it there. By the time she got to the backstretch, she switched and got a little bit on the bridle a little sooner than I wanted to."
Right: The trophy presentation for the Woodbine Oaks.
Left: No Time gets hosed off after the race. Winning trainer Mark Casse said earlier in the week, "I think No Time is a sleeper. She is another one that if she is happy, she is going to be tough."
Right: No Time in the post parade.
Left: No Time mid-pack shortly after the start. Velazquez added, "So, I kind of give and take a little bit. By the time we got to the half-mile pole, I just kind of kept it nice and easy. And then I didn't want to make a premature move, but let her do whatever she was doing, easy at the same time the quarter pole came, and she switched on down the lane, and she gave another gear. She galloped out very nicely. I think if she can do that again (in the Plate), relax in the first part, the way she did today, then she has a very good chance."
Right: No Time parades with her flower blanket.
Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite Shifty after the finish. The Mark Casse trainee improved her record to 2 wins, 1 second, and 2 thirds in 8 starts, earning $224,879 for owner D. J. Stable.
Right: Third place finisher Winterberry returns after the race. The Mark Casse trainee improved her record to 3 wins, 0 seconds, and 1 third in 7 starts, earning $204,451 for owner D. J. Stable.
The fillies break from the gate for the Woodbine Oaks.
A field of 9 Canadian-foaled three-year-old males also went 1 1/8 miles in the $150,000 Plate Trial Stakes, the major local prep for the King's Plate to be run in 27 days time. Coronation Futurity winner Notorious Gangster was sent off as the 9-5 favorite off his win in the Queenston Stakes. In to challenge him included 2-1 second choice Scorching, winner of the Marine (G3), and 4-1 third choice Dewolf, 3rd in the Queenston.
Jockey Rafael Hernandez sent 20-1 Unbridled Weather to lead through fractions of 22.84 and 47.22 while pressed by Scorching and stalked by 64-1 longest shot Autobahn Ace. On the far turn Scorching took over the lead through 3/4 in 1:12.10 and 1 mile in 1:37.66. 7-1 fourth choice Sedburys Ghost, 6th early under Ryan Munger, came out 3 wide into the lane and rallied to win by 1 1/4 lengths over late-running favorite Notorious Gangster in 1:50.37. It was another length back to Scorching third.
Results Chart
Left: Sedburys Ghost in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Ryan Munger said, "These quality horses are like push buttons. You just give them a clear run, and they give it to you. And my job as the pilot was just to get them around nice and relaxed and set them alight at the right time." Trainer Barbara Minshall added, "I kind of like the pace in a way, because I knew he'd close, and Ryan found a good trip. I knew if he found clean run at the end, at top of the lane, I was really confident in him today. I have to say we were confident."
Right: Sedburys Ghost gets hosed off after the race. Winning owner-breeder Yawen Wu said, "It's very exciting because it's kind of a struggle, where you have a small amount of mares. But now this just gave me confidence, and I'm thinking, you know, I will probably get some more."
Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite Notorious Gangster races in last place first time by. The Josie Carroll trainee improved his record to 3 wins, 2 seconds, and 1 third in 7 starts, earning $252,770 for owner-breeder Mark Dodson.
Right: Third place finisher Scorching returns after the race. The John Charalambous trainee improved his record to 2 wins, 2 seconds, and 1 third in 5 starts, earning $248,117 for owners Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch.
The horses break from the gate for the Plate Trial.
Kicking off the Sunday stakes quartet was the $200,000 Canadian Stakes (G2) presented by the Japan Racing Association for older fillies and mares going 1 1/8 miles around one turn of the Taylor turf. Gimme a Nother was sent off as the even-money favorite in the field of 6 off her 7th place finish in the New York (G1) at Saratoga after finishing second in the Hillsborough (G2) and Modesty (G3). In to challenge her included 3-1 second choice Scarlet Poppy, making her stakes debut off a 2nd place finish in an allowance at Aqueduct, and 7-2 third choice Venencia, 4th in the Mint Julep (G3) after finishing 6th in the Distaff Turf Mile (G2) at Churchill Downs.
Jockey Ryan Munger sent Gimme a Nother to the lead out of the chute through fractions of 24.60, 49.37, and 1:14.24 while pressed by 19-1 longest shot Life's an Audible and stalked by Scarlet Poppy. Turning for home Gimme a Nother continued to lead through 1 mile in 1:37.24 but 6-1 fourth choice Ready for Shirl, 5th early under Emma-Jayne Wilson, came out 5 wide for room and rallied to win by a head in 1:49.57. It was a neck back to late-running Venencia third.
Results Chart
Left: Ready for Shirl in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson said, "She's been training exceptional. Her last breeze last week on the training track turf was quite stellar, both physically and mentally. And so, she kind of telegraphed to us that she was going to showcase a big day today, and she, she showed up exactly as we expected. It's absolutely fun to be back in the tack, it's fun to be back in the winner's circle. It's just fun to be here."
Right: Ready for Shirl gets hosed off after the race. Winning trainer Roger Attfield said, "I remember saying her last work, it was as good as she's ever worked for me. She's carrying more weight than she's ever carried before, and since her last race, she's put weight on. I've always had problems keeping weight on this filly, so she was indicating that she's rounding into a really nice filly now."
Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite Gimme a Nother returns after the race. The Graham Motion trainee improved her record to 7 wins, 3 seconds, and 0 thirds in 11 starts, earning $273,773 for owner Newstead Stables.
Right: Third place finisher Venencia in the paddock. The Chad Brown trainee improved her record to 2 wins, 1 second, and 5 thirds in 11 starts, earning $192,923 for owners Bradley Thoroughbreds, Laura Leigh Stable, Jim Cone, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Team Hanley, and Cambron Equine.
The $175,000 bet365 Connaught Cup (G2) featured a field of 10 older horses sprinting 7 furlongs on the turf in an early prep for the Rogers Woodbine Mile. Kehoe Beach was sent off as the 3-5 favorite as the lone filly entered, off her 4th place finish in the Just a Game (G1) at Saratoga. In to challenge him included 5-1 second choice Northern Invader, 4th in the Maker's Mark Mile (G1) at Keeneland, and 9-1 third choice and last year's winner Cruden Bay, unraced since 5th in the King Edward (G2) last August.
Jockey John Velazquez sent Kehoe Beach to lead through fractions of 23.45 and 46.05 while pressed by 121-1 longest shot Crumlin Lad and stalked by Northern Invader. Into the land Kehoe Beach continued to lead through 3/4 in 1:09.47 before tiring. Cruden Bay, 9th early under Fraser Aebly, came out 7 wide for room and rallied to win by 1 1/2 lengths over Northern Invader in 1:21.98. It was another 1 1/4 lengths back to 11-1 Piper's Factor third, while favorite Kehoe Beach checked in another length back in fourth.
Results Chart
Left: Cruden Bay in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Fraser Aebly said, "When we hit the head of the lane, I knew I started to smooch at him a little bit, and he started to pick up the bridle, and it was just whether we found our spot to go. And he sure gave me everything he had when he found it."
Right: Cruden Bay heads heads back to the barn after the race. Winning trainer Don MacRae said, "Around the three-eighths pole, I did say to Michael (Lay, owner), 'We got a lot of horse.' And when you know this horse, you know how hard he tries – it's just amazing. I mean, we're a small team, but we bust our butts every day, and I'm so proud of everyone right now."
Left: Second place finisher Northern Invader returns after the race. The Cherie DeVaux trainee improved his record to 4 wins, 6 seconds, and 1 third in 15 starts, earning $457,564 for owners West Point Thoroughbreds and David Ingordo.
Right: Third place finisher Piper's Factor in the post parade. The Katerina Vassilieva trainee improved his record to 3 wins, 3 seconds, and 1 third in 17 starts, earning $276,588 for owner-breeder Chiefswood Stables.
Fourth place finisher and beaten favorite Kehoe Beach returns after the race. The Wesley Ward trainee has a record of 4 wins, 1 second, and 1 third in 10 starts, earning $537,455 for owner Thomas Bachman.
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