Rose and Shine Blossoms in Princess Elizabeth

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Rebounding from her fifth-place finish in the Mazarine Stakes earlier this month, Rose and Shine swept to the lead approaching mid-stretch and held on well to win the $252,100 Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Woodbine Oct. 29 (VIDEO).

Rose and Shine, at odds of 4-1, produced a mild upset in the 1 1/16-mile test for Canadian-bred 2-year-old fillies on Polytrack, defeating second choice Dixie Strike by one length in a time of 1:45.56. Blue Heart, the 13-10 favorite in the field of eight, finished a half-length farther back in third.

Ridden by Luis Contreras, the winning daughter of Mr. Sekiguchi registered her second stakes win of the season for Ontario owner and co-breeder James Sebastian and trainer Ralph Biamonte. Rose and Shine captured the 6 1/2-furlong Muskoka Stakes, also restricted to Canadian-bred fillies, by three-quarters of length over Dixie Strike Sept. 5.

"Every time she runs, she tries so hard," said Biamonte. "We had a good trip today and I think it was just a matter of the trip. I'm not saying we are better than those horses, but today we were. Maybe if they had a little better trip than what we had, maybe we'd be second or third."

The dark bay or brown filly, co-bred by Jay Cochlin, is out of Yellowenglishrose, by Colonial Affair.

Breaking from the far outside, Rose and Shine was never far back while racing in sixth early as 17-1 Point of Emminence led Casa Loma, Irish Mission, and Mazarine winner Blue Heart through fractions of :24.78, :50.23, and 1:15.09.

Rose and Shine launched her bid while three wide on the turn and grabbed the lead in the lane. Kept to the task by Contreras, Rose and Shine inched away from Blue Heart and Casa Loma in the final furlong.

Dixie Heart, ridden by Patrick Husbands, was sixth at the eighth pole and finished full of run on the outside to get up for second over Blue Heart and Joe Bravo. Casa Loma was a neck behind Blue Heart in fourth.

A maiden claiming winner in her debut May 27, Rose and Shine improved her career mark to 3-0-1 in six starts with earnings of $326,573 after collecting $151,260 for her winning effort. All of her races have been at Woodbine.

Under equal weights of 119 pounds, Rose and Shine paid $10, $4.30, $2.60 as the third choice. Dixie Strike returned $3.90 and $2.50 and rounded out a $43.80 exacta. Blue Heart was $2.20 to show.

Casa Loma was followed by Irish Mission, Genes Northernstar, Point of Emminence, and Harlan's Panther.