Woodbine Fall Turf Showcase

2024 Nearctic, Dance Smartly, and Singspiel Stakes

Owner/breeder Frank Di Giulio Jr. leads Patches O’Houlihan to the winner’s circle with Sofia Vives aboard after the Nearctic Stakes

Date: 10/05/2024

Woodbine hosted its “Fall Turf Showcase” on Saturday afternoon, with 4 stakes races (3 graded) contested over both the main E.P. Taylor Turf Course and the inner turf. Conditions were excellent for the first weekend of October, with sunny skies and a high temperature of 18.4 C (65.1 F). Afternoon showers on Friday downgraded the courses to “good” (GoingStick readings of 10.2 on the Taylor, 10.6 on the inner, which would be called “good-to-firm” in Europe).

A field of 10 older horses went to post in the $250,000 Nearctic Stakes (G2) presented by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, a 6 furlong sprint on the Taylor turf. Patches O’Houlihan was sent off as the 2-1 favorite off wins in the Pink Lloyd, Bold Venture (G3), and Vigil Stakes (G3). In to challenge him included 7-2 second choice Outlaw Kid, winner of the Vice Regent Stakes after finishing second in the Troy (G3) at Saratoga, and 9-2 third choice Bring Theband Home off an allowance win last out at Saratoga.

Patches O’Houlihan rallies on the far outside down the stretch

Jockey Sofia Vives sent Patches O’Houlihan to the lead through an opening quarter of 22.67 while pressed by Bring Theband Home and stalked by 16-1 First Empire and Outlaw Kid. Turning for home Patches O’Houlihan drifted out beyond the center of the course allowing Outlaw Kid to take over the lead on the rail through a half in 45.47. Outlaw Kid opened up a 2 1/2 length lead midstretch through 5f in 56.99 before tiring. Patches O’Houlihan fought back in the final furlong to pull away by 1 1/2 lengths over late-running 22-1 Dhabab in 1:09.49. It was another 1/2 length back to 5-1 fourth choice War Bomber third.

Pgm  Horse              Jockey            Win   Place  Show
 5   Patches O'Houlihan Vives            6.30    4.50  2.80
 1   Dhabab             Munger                  15.30  8.20
10   War Bomber         Hernandez                      3.60

Winning Time:  1:09.49

$1 Exacta 5-1                44.30
$2 Trifecta 5-1-10          518.60
$2 Superfecta 5-1-10-2    1,985.50

Left: Patches O’Houlihan in the winner’s circle. Winning trainer Bob Tiller said, “He’s a great horse. I love him. Today was a huge thrill and relief more than anything, and he’s right up there with the rest of them. It’s like saying, ‘Which kid do you like better?’ I’m not doing that. He’s wonderful. He’s been a blessing.”

Right: Patches O’Houlihan gets hosed off after the race. Tiller added, “My feeling down the stretch was, ‘Where’s he going?’ (when he drifted out). And I’m waiting for him to stop because all day long, the speed was stopping on that turf course. I tried to convince Frank (Di Giulio Jr., owner-breeder) that maybe we should scratch. I would have preferred to scratch him, but it was his decision and he was totally correct.”

Left: Patches O’Houlihan in the paddock before the race. Winning jockey Sofia Vives said, “It’s very nice to win for this team. This horse was really something special today. It was his first time on the grass this year. He ran amazing. I mean, he just shows up every day and gives it his all. No matter what surface, he’s very special. Every time I ride him, we think maybe we could sit off speed today, but he hears us in the mornings, and he knows he’s faster than everybody, and he’ll prove everybody wrong.”

Right: Patches O’Houlihan rallies on the far outside in deep stretch.

Left: Second place finisher Dhabab in the paddock before the race. The Ed Vaughan trainee improved his record to 3 wins, 1 second, and 1 third in 16 starts, earning $149,884 for owner Abdullah Saeed Al Naboodah.

Right: Third place finisher War Bomber in the paddock. The Norm McKnight trainee improved his record to 7 wins, 4 seconds, and 4 thirds in 27 starts, earning $530,132 for owner Bruno Schickedanz.

Mouffy (inside) wins the Dance Smartly Stakes (G2)

The $200,000 bet365 Dance Smartly Stakes (G2) featured a field of 12 older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles around one turn of the E.P. Taylor turf course. 2023 Canadian Horse of the Year Fev Rover was sent off as the 9-4 favorite off a third place finish in the E.P. Taylor (G1) after finishing a close second in the Beverly D (G2) at Colonial Downs. In to challenge her included 5-1 second choice Spansive off an allowance win, and 11-2 third choice Princess Calla, South Africa’s Horse of the Year making her North American debut off her third place finish in the Oppenheimer Horse Stakes (G1) at Turffontein after winning the Majorca Stakes (G1) at Kenilworth.

Spansive and 58-1 Canisy dueled for the early lead through fractions of 23.86, 47.60, and 1:11.85 while stalked by 9-1 Millie Girl and 6-1 fourth choice Mission of Joy. Turning for home the pacesetters tired as 19-1 Tax Implications, 7th early, circled the field 10 wide to gain a short lead through 1 mile in 1:35.94. 14-1 Mouffy, 11th early under Vincent Cheminaud, came out 6 wide for room and outfinished late-closing 13-2 Nadette to win by a head in 1:42.07. It was another 2 1/4 lengths back to Tax Implications third, and 1/2 a length more to favorite Fev Rover fourth. Sahin Civaci aboard Fev Rover claimed foul against Luis Contreras aboard Tax Implications for interference in the stretch. The stewards agreed and disqualified Tax Implications to fourth moving Fev Rover up to third.

Results chart

Left: Mouffy in the winner’s circle. Winning trainer Jonathan Thomas said, “I thought there was a good pace, which she needs to kind of relax. And I thought Vincent did a great job of saving ground and then tipping out onto the part of the track that’s probably a little firm, and it really helped accentuate her turn of foot. They better put the mare in bubble wrap. We’ve tried to resume build with her, because she’s an Uncle Mo out of a really nice Smart Strike mare. And while we want to win races, we also want to make sure she earns her way into a brood mare band.”

Right: Mouffy gets a kiss from groom Veronica Gizuk while she gets hosed off after the race.

Left: Mouffy in the post parade. Thomas added, “Kentucky Downs is probably the one place you can forgive a horse for really not showing up. It was a little soft that day, hot. It was uncharacteristic for her to run like that, so we’ve, just gave it a pass and wanted to make sure we got her back on a good turf course.”

Right: Mouffy heads to the winner’s circle.

Left: Second place finisher Nadette heads out to the track before the race. The Neil Drysdale trainee improved her record to 5 wins, 4 seconds, and 2 thirds in 24 starts, earning $392,971 for owner Stepaside Farm.

Right: Third place (moved up from fourth) and beaten favorite Fev Rover returns after the race. The Mark Casse trainee improved her record to 6 wins, 6 seconds, and 5 thirds in 25 starts, earning $1,490,411 for owner Tracy Farmer.

Fourth place (disqualified from third) Tax Implications heads out to the track before the race. The Chad Brown trainee has a record of 2 wins, 5 seconds, and 1 thirds in 11 starts, earning $281,544 for owner Klaravich Stables.

Truly Quality wins the Singspiel Stakes (G3)

The $175,000 HPIbet Singspiel Stakes (G3) featured a field of 13 older horses (after 1 scratch) going 1 3/8 miles on the E.P. Taylor course. Truly Quality was sent off as the 9-5 favorite off his Colonial Cup win at Colonial Downs. In to challenge him included 7-2 second choice and last year’s winner Palazzi, third in the Niagara Stakes after finishing 4th in the Seagram Cup (G2), and 17-2 third choice Malibu Mambo off an allowance win.

Jockey Ryan Munger sent 28-1 Eyes on the King to lead through easy fractions of 24.97, 50.03, 1:15.28, and 1:40.09 while pressed by 11-1 Lac Macaza and stalked by 89-1 longest shot Dun Drum and 9-1 fourth choice Highland Chief. Turning for home, Eyes on the King tired as Highland Chief inherited the lead through 10f in 2:04.82 but favorite Truly Quality, unhurried early under Vincent Cheminaud, came out 8 wide for room and outfinished 11-1 English Conquerer to win by 3/4 length in 2:17.47. It was another 1/2 length back to 19-2 fifth choice Stone Age third.

Results chart

Left: Truly Quality in the winner’s circle. Winning trainer Jonathan Thomas said, “We threw out the game plan because, it depended on how he broke. But I will say I was concerned about 90 percent of the race, but Vincent did a good job of not panicking, breaking a little slow, letting him gather some steam. I thought the horse overcame a pretty, pretty tough situation. I’d love to talk to the Strawbridges (owner Augustin Stable) about maybe taking a real swing and going to Breeders’ Cup and then giving him the winter off and really trying to make him a Grade 1 horse.”

Right: Truly Quality gets hosed off after the race. Winning jockey Vincent Cheminaud said, “To be honest, the horse didn’t like the soft ground. I had a bad draw (far outside) today, so he was very lazy. When I pushed him a little bit, he gave me a good answer. He was the best today.”

Left: Second place finisher English Conqueror in the paddock before the race. The Darwin Banach trainee improved his record to 4 wins, 5 seconds, and 9 thirds in 32 starts, earning $474,510 for owner-breeder JWS Farms.

Right: Third place finisher Stone Age heads to the starting gate before the race. The Pat Parente trainee improved his record to 3 wins, 5 seconds, and 3 thirds in 25 starts, earning $1,267,424 for owner Cooper Water Thoroughbred Company.

Mi Bago winner of the Algonquin Stakes

Kicking off the Saturday stakes quartet, the $175,000 bet365 Algonquin Stakes featured a field of 8 two-year-olds sprinting 5 furlongs on the inner turf course. Bullet was sent off as the even-money choice off her 6th place finish in the Catch a Glimpse Stakes after winning the My Dear Stakes. In to challenge her included 11-2 second choice Dare to Breeze, 4th in the Adirondack (G3) at Saratoga, and 6-1 third choice Mi Bago, 6th in the Funny Cide at Saratoga.

Jockey Rafael Hernandez sent 8-1 Mensa to the lead through fractions of 21.89 and 45.30 while pressed by Dare to Breeze and stalked by 19-1 Sharedshenanigans and Mi Bago. In the final furlong Mensa tired badly as Mi Bago, confidently ridden by Sahin Civaci got up to win by a neck over Dare to Breeze in 57.89. It was another 1/2 length back to late-running favorite Bullet third.

Results Chart

Left: Mi Bago in the winner’s circle. Winning jockey Sahin Civaci said, “I look at the program and see what horses have a lot of speed. I just tried to get my horse out as fast as possible. And then if I step back and let him in between horses, that’s fine with me, and that’s what I did today. He had a little trouble getting around the turn, so I had to ask him a little bit there. And yeah, I just got up.”

Right: Mi Bago heads to the winner’s circle.

Left: Second place finisher Dare to Breeze heads out to the track before the race. The Mark Casse trainee improved her record to 1 win, 1 second, and 1 third in 4 starts, earning $90,87- for owner Peter Deutsch.

Right: Third place finisher and beaten favorite Bullet returns after the race. The Mark Casse trainee improved her record to 2 wins, 0 seconds, and 1 third in 4 starts, earning $117,942 for owner D.J. Stable.

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