(from Woodbine reports)
Dance for Us, ridden by Chantal Sutherland, won the second leg of the Triple Tiara for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies when she prevailed by a nose in Woodbine's $217,665 Bison City Stakes (VIDEO) June 28.
The 1 1/16-mile event is the first stakes score for the Barbara Minshall trainee, who went off at odds of 12-1. Milwaukee Appeal, winner of the Woodbine Oaks, did not run in the Bison City after placing third in the Queen's Plate June 21.
Dance for Us, a bay daughter of Monashee Mountain, staved off a strong late bid from Flashy Got Even, who was ridden by Emma-Jayne Wilson. High Mist was third. Retraceable, the 1-2 favorite, finished sixth under Patrick Husbands.
Now a two-time winner from eight starts, the Minshall Farm homebred was clocked in 1:44.59 over Woodbine's Polytrack.
"Coming down the stretch, we were fighting it out," Sutherland said in reference to Wilson. "We both had really game horses. It was exciting because I've always wanted that kind of finish with Emma. It was so much fun today."
Last of the eight fillies early, Sutherland said the field was "clumped together" on the backstretch. As a result, she continued to bide her time until the half-mile pole, at which point she saw an opportunity to make a move.
One of four fillies separated by just a length at the eighth pole, Dance for Us closed best for the victory, her first since a maiden-breaking score on Nov. 2.
Minshall said she thought the filly would run well in the Bison City.
"She spent the winter up here and I thought she wasn't quite tight for her first race, Minshall said. "She ran well on the turf and she's just sort of coming to hand. She's a nice filly."
Dance for Us returned $27.10, $11.10 and $7.30, combining with Flashy Got Even ($31.60, $13.50) for a $569.30 exacta. High Mist ($7.30), ridden by James McAleney, rounded out a trifecta worth $2,660.80.
Two races later, favored Midst, with Husbands aboard, led from gate to wire to capture the $136,820 My Dear Stakes (VIDEO) for 2-year-old fillies.
The five-furlong event was the second straight victory for the Mark Casse trainee. The Florida-bred prevailed by one length over New York invader Franny Freud. Elated Moon was third.
Midst, a daughter of Closing Argument, zipped five furlongs in :56.73.
"I just let her run her own race," said Husbands after riding the bay filly for the first time. "Around the quarter pole, I gave her a chance to catch her breath. When I set her down, she gave me 100 per cent."
Midst kicked off her career with two tries at Keeneland. She broke her maiden by 4 1/4 lengths in her second career start, a 4 1/2-furlong race on April 24.
After the maiden victory, Heiligbrodt Racing Stable sold the filly to the Lets Go Stable. She will be trained by Todd Pletcher.
"She's going to go to Todd next week," said Casse. "We'll miss her. Hopefully, they'll do big things. I was a little concerned with the couple of months off. The sale was going on for a while. She missed a work and hadn't really done a lot. She's probably a better horse than you saw today. She's been exceptional from the beginning. I told my wife the first time we were going to run her, 'I think this filly is something special.' I think she is."
Midst returned $6.10, $3.40 and $2.90, combining with Franny Freud ($4.70, $3.40) for a $17.70 exacta. Elated Moon ($8.60) rounded out a trifecta worth $209.10.
Wildcat Aly and Richiegirlgonewild were scratched.
