The Jockey Club of Canada's Graded Stakes Committee held its annual review of graded and listed stakes and while the number of graded stakes in Canada remains unchanged at 44, there will be two upgrades of non-listed races to listed races for 2017.
John Unger's homebred champion Strut the Course seeks her second graded stakes win of the year when she faces six other older fillies and mares in the $150,000 Ontario Matron Stakes (Can-III) at Woodbine July 25.
Christine Hayden's homebred Unspurned seeks her second straight graded- stakes score in the $150,000 Hendrie (gr. III) at Woodbine May 9.
Veteran trainer Wayne Catalano will attempt to build on his 2014 accomplishments when he sends multiple stakes winner I'm Already Sexy and two stablemates into an overflow field Nov. 22 at Churchill Downs.
J. Keeler Johnson handicaps the Canadian International (gr. I) and E.P. Taylor Stakes (gr. I) at Woodbine. read blog
Irish classic winner Just The Judge can turn an Oct. 19 run in the $500,000 E.P. Taylor Stakes (Can-IT) into a bid at the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (gr. IT) just a few weekends later.
Deceptive Vision earned a berth to the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (gr. IT) after taking the $305,250 Canadian Stakes (Can-IIT) Sept. 14 over the Woodbine turf.
Gary Barber's Lexie Lou steps outside 3-year-old competition in the nine-furlong Canadian Stakes (Can-IIT) Sept. 14 at Woodbine. The $300,000 race is a "Win and You're In" for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (gr. IT).
Salvador Hernandez's homebred La Tia made a tour de force of the $144,053 Ontario Matron Stakes (Can-III) at Woodbine July 26, leading wire to wire and drawing off at the end to best eight other fillies and mares.
A competitve field of nine fillies will face off in the two-turn Ontario Matron over Woodbine's Polytrack July 26, including a pack of stakes winners at Arlington and over the home track outside Toronto.
Trainer Malcolm Pierce accounted for the exacta in the $197,502 Dance Smartly Stakes (Can-II) when Overheard nipped favored Deceptive Vision in a terrific finish July 6 on the Woodbine turf.
Lightly raced Deceptive Vision, a close third last time in her stakes debut, is the favorite among eight older fillies and mares expected to start in the $200,000 Dance Smartly Stakes (Can-IIT) July 6 on the Woodbine turf.
Solid Appeal returns to her favorite turf course to defend her title in the $200,000 Nassau Stakes (Can-IIT) May 25 at Woodbine against a field that includes the mare that she lost to last time out, Sisterly Love.
Gary Barber's Sisterly Love became the first two-time winner of the current Keeneland spring meeting and did so at the expense of multiple grade I winner Emollient when she took home the April 18 Doubledogdare (gr. III).
Juddmonte homebred, 2-for-2 at Keeneland after notching double grade I wins at the Lexington oval, finds softer spot April 18 in $100,000 Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare (gr. III).
Sam-Son Farm's homebred Up With the Birds was honored as Canadian Horse of the Year for 2013 at the 39th annual Sovereign Awards held April 11 at Woodbine Race Track in Toronto.
Don't Tell Sophia has her eye on a repeat victory in Oaklawn Park's Bayakoa Stakes Feb. 16, a month after winning the Pippin Stakes at the Arkansas track in consecutive years.
Moonlit Beauty did in the Nov. 2 Maple Leaf Stakes (Can-III) what the 7-year-old daughter of Perigee Moon does best--win races gate to wire
No Explaining, British newcomer Ladys First, and Solid Appeal head the field nine fillies and mares in the 59th renewal of Woodbine's Canadian Stakes (Can-IIT) Sept. 15.
The Aug, 17 Ontario Colleen Stakes (gr. IIIT) run at one mile at Woodbine looks to be one big grab bag, with no standout and a number of classy fillies on Polytrack trying their luck on grass, several for the first time.
Odds-on choice Sisterly Love made every pole a winning one as she registered her first graded stakes win in the $146,123 Ontario Matron Stakes (Can-III) June 20 at Woodbine.
Sisterly Love, coming off her first stakes win in a romp over the Polytrack at Woodbine, returns for a shot at her first graded victory in the $150,000 Ontario Matron (Can-III) July 20.
Acting Naughty had her consistency rewarded with her first stakes victory in the $149,689 Whimsical (Can-III) at Woodbine April 28, coming from off the pace in her seasonal debut.
Absent since a runner-up effort in last spring's Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser, Northern Passion returns in the $150,000 Whimsical Stakes (Can-III) April 28, the first graded stakes of the 2013 season at Woodbine.
A freshened Joyful Victory was too much to handle for her rivals in the inaugural $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston Race Park on the night of Jan. 26, setting a track record while drawing away for an easy win.
| Horse | Trainer | Breeder / Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Checkered Past | Malcolm Pierce |
|
| Lady Rouge | Mark R. Frostad |
|
| Moonlit Beauty | John P. LeBlanc, Jr. |
|
| Pure Blue Sky | Sam Di Pasquale |
|
| Royal Fury | Brian A. Lynch |
|
| Savvy Hester | Ricky Griffith |
|
| Sisterly Love | Mark E. Casse |
|
| Race | Track | Date |
|---|---|---|
| My Dear S. | WO | 6/24 |
| Bold Ruckus S. | WO | 6/25 |
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