After her impressive debut in the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies Stakes at Gulfstream Park in May, Bullet, a daughter of War Front, was expected to compete at Royal Ascot in England after securing a free berth to a stakes race there. However, D J Stable and Mark Casse decided to send her to Woodbine in Toronto for a three-race series.
The series began with the $125,000 My Dear Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta, where Bullet broke better from the gate compared to her first race and tracked the speed of Carlisle Bay before reeling in that rival and cruising to a 4 1/4 length victory in 1:04.85 over a slow Tapeta surface. She paid $3.10 as the 3 to 5 favourite.
Soupergirl, the lone Ontario-bred filly, finished second, while Carlisle Bay came in third. Bullet, who cost $25,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September yearling sale, is the second foal from the mare Marlinspike, whose dam Surfside was a Grade 1 winner and daughter of champion Flanders.
Meanwhile, in the Ballade Stakes at Woodbine, Pleasure's Gold, a homebred mare owned by Gordon and Elizabeth Lickrish, stormed to victory in the Ontario-sired event. Trained by Tino Attard, Pleasure's Gold delivered a three-length win over rivals Talk to Ya Later and Lantana Lady in a fast-paced race.
With Rafael Hernandez aboard, Pleasure's Gold now has six wins from 18 starts and earnings of $307,171. The mare is from the Lickrish-bred Good as Gold, a daughter of Petionville who won two races. Hernandez had a successful day at the track, winning four races on Saturday.