Photo:
Michael Burns Photo
Defending winner Moira, who was Canada’s 2022 horse of the
year, is part of a deep distaff field entered for Saturday’s Grade 2, US$145,403
Canadian Stakes on Saturday at Woodbine.
The question is whether she tries to repeat and, if she does
line up, who might join her among the 11 fillies and mares entered Wednesday for
the 1 1/8-mile turf race.
Click here for Woodbine entries and results.
A close second last month in the Diana (G1), Moira also is
entered for the $500,000 Beverly D. (G2), a 1 3/16-mile test at Colonial Downs
that was pushed back 24 hours to Sunday because of the rain threat from
tropical storm Debby.
Now the horse race in Toronto has turned into an international
game of cat and mouse.
“Waiting to see how the weather plays out and then decide,”
trainer Kevin Attard said Wednesday evening about Moira, a 5-year-old Ghostzapper
mare who won the 2022 Queen’s Plate on synthetic and last year’s Canadian on
the turf. “I’m hoping to go, but I would like something close to firm ground.”
The Meteorological Service of Canada predicted a 60 percent
chance of showers Thursday and a 40 percent chance Friday before a sunny Saturday
at Woodbine.
Moira is owned by Lanni Bloodstock, Madaket Stables and SF
Racing. She has a record of 14: 5-5-2 with earnings of US$1,513,999.
Libban, the 4-year-old winner of the $125,000 Wasted Tears
last month at Lone Star, and Mission of Joy, a 4-year-old who would be making a
class drop after a third in the Just a Game (G1) and sixth in the Diana, also
are cross-entered in the Canadian and Beverly D. Based on what their trainers
said Wednesday, both appear headed for Virginia.
“Libban is running at Colonial,” Saffie Joseph Jr. said.
“I am planning to go to (the) Beverly D., assuming Moira
stays in Canada,” Mission of Joy’s trainer Graham Motion said.
Adding to the intrigue are the riding assignments. Rafael Hernández is listed as the rider of Moira and her stablemate Full Count Felicia. Frankie Dettori was named by Motion to ride on both Mission of Joy and Five Towns.
Even without Libban and Mission of Joy, the Canadian field
boasts at least five other would-be starters who bring cases to win Saturday.
Fashionably Fab, a 4-year-old also trained by Attard, had
her five-race winning streak snapped last month. That was when she finished
third, losing by a only a neck in the Trillium (G3) going 1 1/16 miles on the Woodbine
synthetic.
Last year’s Woodbine Oaks victor Elysian Field, who finished
second in the King’s Plate and Breeders’ Stakes, got her first win as a
4-year-old last month. That was when she prevailed by a head in an allowance race
moved from the turf to the Woodbine synthetic.
Five Towns, a 4-year-old transfer from Europe, was a stakes
winner at Laurel Park ahead of her distant second last out May 18 in the
Gallorette (G3) at Pimlico.
Star Fortress, who won her first race after being
transferred last year from Europe to North America, lost by a head in the Sheepshead
Bay (G3) at Aqueduct and then finished 11th in the New York (G1) last month. In
her 5-year-old debut she finished 11th in the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare
Turf Invitational (G2).
Allowance winner Forever After All is a 5-year-old allowance
winner who lost by a half-length last month in the Anchorage at Churchill
Downs.
Forever Dixie, a 4-year-old who was second in the Trillium;
Millie Girl, a 6-year-old who was third in the Nassau (G2); and Full Count
Felicia, an Attard-trained 5-year-old who was fourth in the Nassau, also were entered.
The Canadian Stakes is scheduled as the ninth of 10 races
Saturday at Woodbine with a post time of 5:26 p.m. EDT.
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | HRN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Forever Dixie Quality Road |
3.79 |
2nd, Trillium S. Presented by Don Julio |
Entered | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
2nd, Trillium S. Presented by Don Julio |
|||||
| 2 |
|
Millie Girl Hard Spun |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 3 |
|
Full Count Felicia War Front |
5.56 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 4 |
|
Forever After All Connect |
5.89 |
2nd, Anchorage Overnight S. |
Entered | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
2nd, Anchorage Overnight S. |
|||||
| 5 |
|
Elysian Field Hard Spun |
4.45 |
1st, WO AOC (07/13/2024-R7) |
Entered | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, WO AOC (07/13/2024-R7) |
|||||
| 6 |
|
Five Towns Lord Kanaloa |
5.34 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 7 |
|
Moira Ghostzapper |
6.80 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 8 |
|
Star Fortress Sea The Stars |
6.30 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 9 |
|
Mission Of Joy Kitten’s Joy |
6.70 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 10 |
|
Fashionably Fab Silent Name |
5.07 |
3rd, Trillium S. Presented by Don Julio |
Entered | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
3rd, Trillium S. Presented by Don Julio |
|||||
| 11 |
|
Libban Laoban |
6.05 |
1st, Wasted Tears S. |
Entered | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, Wasted Tears S. |
|||||