Nobals rolls to victory in the Kennedy Road Stakes (G2)

2024 Kennedy Road and Autumn Stakes Results

E.T. Baird aboard Nobals after winning the Kennedy Road Stakes

Date: 11/16/2024

With 5 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 2024 were contested on Saturday after sunset. Conditions were typical for mid November in Toronto with partly cloudy skies and a race time temperature of 7.5 C (45.5 F).

The $175,000 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. Patches O’Houlihan was sent off as the 4-5 favorite in the field of 6 off a 4 race win streak including the Vigil (G2) and Nearctic (G2). In to challenge him included 3-1 second choice Nobals, winless since the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) and fifth last out in the Woodford (G2) at Keeneland, and 7-2 third choice Flag of Honour, ninth in the Nearctic after finishing seventh in the Connaught Cup (G2).

Nobals and Patches O’Houlihan battle in the stretch.

Jockey Sofia Vives sent Patches O’Houlihan to the lead exiting the chute and he set fractions of 21.80 and 44.24 while pressed by Nobals and staled by 8-1 fourth choice Remuda. Turning for home, Patches O’Houlihan continued to lead through 5f in 56.14 but Nobals, confidently ridden by E.T. Baird, took over in deep stretch to win by 3/4 length in 1:08.59. It was a long 4 1/4 lengths back to late-running War Bomber third.

Pgm  Horse              Jockey            Win   Place  Show
 4   Nobals             Baird            8.40    4.00  2.80
 1   Patches O'Houlihan Vives                    2.60  2.10
 5   War Bomber         Aebly                          3.80

Winning Time:  1:08.59

$1 Exacta 4-1                  9.35
$2 Trifecta 4-1-5             85.50
$2 Superfecta 4-1-5-3        161.40

Left: Nobals in the winner’s circle. Winning jockey E.T. Baird said, “I rode him before, but I was actually caught off guard. Larry (Rivelli, trainer) had given me a call, I think maybe on Thursday, and told me I was going to Woodbine on Saturday. My passport expired, so I was all day yesterday at the passport agency in Chicago. I went in there at nine o’clock and made it home at eight o’clock at night.”

Right: Nobals’s connections pose with the trophy.

Left: Nobals in the post parade. Baird added, “My horse broke really well, and I was happy because I let him come out of there running. He just sat real comfortable and it worked out well. The way he acted today, in the post parade and everything about him, was really professional. I had a really good feeling about him in the post parade. He was wanting to jump and move and seemed really bright and ready to go at it.” Baird added that he would start next in the Hong Kong Sprint (G1) at Sha Tin on December 8.

Right: Nobals heads back to the barn after the race.

Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite Patches O’Houlihan in the post parade. The Bob Tiller trainee improved his record to 11 wins, 1 second, and 0 thirds in 14 starts, earning $696,490 for owner-breeder Frank Di Giulio Jr.

Right: Third place finisher War Bomber heads out to the track. The Norm McKnight trainee improved his record to 7 wins, 4 seconds, and 5 thirds in 28 starts, earning $543,797 for owner Bruno Schickedanz.

Wicked Django wins the Autumn Stakes

Immediately before the Kennedy Road, a field 8 older horses (after 4 scratches) contested the $175,000 HPIbet Autumn Stakes (G2) over 1 1/8 miles, a race which factors in Sovereign voting in the older male main track category. Dresden Row was sent off as the 2-1 favorite off wins in the Durham Cup (G3) and Ontario Derby (G3). In to challenge him included 3-1 second choice and 2023 King’s Plate winner Paramount Prince, 5th in the Durham Cup (G3) after winning the Dominion Day (G3) and Seagram Cup (G3), and 7-2 third choice Forever Souper, winner of 3 straight including the Avery Whisman Memorial and Presque Isle Mile.

Jockey Patrick Husbands sent Paramount Prince to the lead first time by and he set fractions of 23.60, 47.18, and 1:10.80 while pressed by Forever Souper and stalked by 8-1 fourth choice Stanley House. Turning for home, Paramount Prince tired to eventually finish last, as 24-1 longest shot Wicked Django, 6th early under Keveh Nicholls, came out 5 wide to sweep to the lead through 1 mile in 1:35.50. Kept to task by Nicholls, Wicked Django drew off to win by 1 1/4 lengths over late-running favorite Dresden Row in 1:48.45, just 0.21 seconds off the track record. It was another 1 1/2 lengths back to Stanley House third.

Results Chart

Left: Wicked Django in the winner’s circle. Winning jockey Keveh Nicholls said, “He broke a tad slow and I just let him relax back there. I saw that Paramount Prince and the others were (up front), and I just tried to make one steady run at them. We came to the conclusion (to try) blinkers (because he) was coming to horses and was kind of stalling. With the blinkers, I worked him in the morning and he really enjoyed it.”

Right: Wicked Django heads back to the barn after the race. Winning trainer Rodney Barrow said, “We got him about a month ago. The owner asked me to train him, and I said, ‘Okay.’ We thought the blinkers would help a lot.”

Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite Dresden Row in the post parade. The Lorne Richards trainee improved his record to 5 wins, 2 seconds, and 2 thirds in 9 starts, earning $267,277 for owners True North Stable and Bloom Racing Stable (Jeffrey Bloom).

Right: Third place finisher Stanley House heads out to the track. The Mike De Paulo trainee improved his record to 3 wins, 6 seconds, and 3 thirds in 16 starts, earning $346,127 for owners John and Diana Russell.

The horses break from the gate for the Autumn Stakes.

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