With the CTHS Canadian Premier Yearling Sale approaching on August 28, Ontario-breds delivered standout performances on the track.
Friday's King’s Plate kicked off a thrilling weekend of racing at Woodbine, featuring key races leading up to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships and lucrative stakes for graduates of Ontario’s yearling sales. On Sunday, four Yearling Sales Stakes races will officially begin the CTHS Canadian Premier Yearling Sale festivities, which culminate with the sale on Wednesday, August 28, at 11 a.m. (See separate post for Yearling Sales Stakes results.)
The impressive Patches O’Houlihan (by Ontario sire Reload) put in a gutsy performance to defeat the previously unbeaten Playmea Tune in the Grade 3 Bold Venture Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on King’s Plate day. This marked the second straight win for the speedy bay gelding, who was crowned 2023 Champion Male Sprinter, following in the footsteps of his former stablemate, the legendary Pink Lloyd, who won that title for five consecutive years. Remarkably, Patches was bred and is owned by Pink Lloyd’s main owner, Frank DiGuilio Jr., and trained by Pink Lloyd’s trainer, Bob Tiller.
Patches O’Houlihan, out of the Silent Name (Jpn) mare Maythefourthbwithu, has won nine of his 11 races. He followed his victory in the Pink Lloyd Stakes (yes, really) where he earned a 103 Beyer Speed Figure with a 99 Beyer in his Bold Venture triumph.
Ontario-bred two-year-old filly Shifty (Medaglia d’Oro – Elusive Luci by Elusive Quality) captured her maiden win in the $150,000 Catch a Glimpse Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf for two-year-old fillies. Trained by Mark Casse for D J Stable and bred by Anderson Farms Ont. Inc., Shifty was making just her second career start after a promising fifth-place finish in her debut behind the gelding Cairo Caper.
Cairo Caper (Cairo Prince) claimed the Soaring Free Stakes for owner William Thompson, Jr. and trainer Nathan Squires earlier in the day, earning a 76 Beyer Figure with a time of 1:16.25 for 6 1/2 furlongs on good turf. The Soaring Free serves as the local prep for the Grade 1 Summer Stakes.
Shifty posted an 85 Beyer Figure for her impressive victory under Sahin Civaci, completing the distance in 1:15.68. Next up is the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes, a “Win and You’re In” race for the Breeders’ Cup.
Also on King’s Plate day, 2022 Champion Turf Male and Champion Male Sprinter Filo Di Arianna (Brz) won the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes at one mile on turf, despite a rough start. The chestnut eight-year-old was unprepared at the break as jockey Sahin Civaci adjusted his stirrup and didn’t have full control of the reins. However, the speedy gelding battled through early pressure and held off War Bomber to secure his sixth graded stakes win. Trained by Mark Casse, Filo Di Arianna is now targeting the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile next.