Tom Edison Stakes winner Smart Enough looks to build a three-race winning streak and secure his first grade II victory when he headlines the Nearctic Stakes (Can-IIT) Oct. 21 at Woodbine.
The 4-year-old Horse Chestnut gelding moves back out to six furlongs for the first time since his victory in the Scotts Highlander Stakes (gr. IIIT) four races ago. His last two starts–and subsequent victories–came at five furlongs in the Oct. 6 Tom Edison Stakes at Meadowlands and the Sept. 3 Turf Monster Handicap at Philadelphia Park. In 13 starts for trainer Dr. John R.S. Fisher and breeder/owner Edith Dixon, he has only finished off the board once, when he threw in an uncharacteristic eighth-place finish in the 1 1/16-mile Oceanport Stakes (gr. IIIT)—his lone start beyond a mile.
Smart Enough is out of the Polish Numbers mare Quick 'n Smart.
Smart Enough shares the top weight of 119 with challenger Ecclesiastic, third in the Kentucky Cup Turf Dash at Kentucky Downs. The Marty Wolfson-trained son of Pulpit won the six-furlong Jaipur Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Belmont Sept. 22, but had not won a race prior to that event since March.
Seeking redemption after a 12th-place finish in the Woodbine Mile (Can-IT), George Mikhalides’ Dead Red caries two pounds less than those two and looks to return to the winning ways that saw him gain a victory in the Aug. 11 Turf Sprint Championship Handicap at Calder, while the Christophe Clement trainee Quietly Mine seeks a win after a pair of second-place finishes in the Sept 9 Lights and Music Stakes and the Inside the Beltway Stakes at Belmont Park.
Moth Ball, Castle Heights, Dark Missile, and Heros Reward complete the field.
$500,000 Nearctic Stakes (Can-IIT), Woodbine, Oct. 21, race 9, approximate post 5:05 p.m., six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up, turf
PP, Horse, Weight, Jockey
1. Moth Ball, 117, Mike Smith
2. Quietly Mine, 116, Garrett Gomez
3. Castle Heights, 117, Emile Ramsammy
4. Smart Enough, 119, Christopher DeCarlo
5. Ecclesiastic, 119, Jose Valdivia, Jr.
6. Dark Missile, 114, Martin J. Dwyer
7. Dead Red, 117, Olivier Peslier
8. Heros Reward, 117, Javier Castellano