Curlin's Voyage Sails to Victory in Woodbine Oaks
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Photo: Michael Burns
Curlin's Voyage wins the Woodbine Oaks at Woodbine
Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings and Windsor Boys Racing's champion Curlin's Voyage added another feather to her cap Aug. 15, taking the CA$500,800 (US$377,481) Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser at Woodbine.
The sophomore daughter of Curlin was named Canada's 2019 champion 2-year-old filly and this year has won two of three starts.
The question now is whether trainer Josie Carroll will send her latest Woodbine Oaks winner to the Sept. 12 Queen's Plate Stakes. Carroll accomplished the double in 2011 with Inglorious, and fillies Holy Helena (2017), Lexie Lou (2014), and Dancethruthedawn (2001) have also accomplished the feat.
"You know, with Inglorious I think I had everybody frustrated because I wouldn't make up my mind until the week before the Plate," Carroll said. "I'm very much about my individual horses, and she's going to tell us."
Patrick Husbands was aboard Curlin's Voyage as the pair broke from the rail in the field of 10. The chestnut filly was eighth early in the 1 1/8-mile event on Tapeta, and Merveilleux was close behind throughout with Rafael Hernandez riding. Infinite Patience grabbed the lead from the outside and set fractions of :23.15, :46.79, and 1:11.21 through six furlongs.
Husbands took an inside route with Curlin's Voyage, and the filly slipped through on the rail turning for home before picking off the pacesetter. Merveilleux attempted a similar path but encountered traffic at the top of the stretch. Curlin's Voyage drew clear and won by 1 3/4 lengths. She paid $4.70 as the 6-5 favorite.
The final time on a fast track was 1:50.04.
"In the first turn and in the second turn, (Hernandez) was on me and so I told myself, 'I'm on the best horse,' so when I reached the five-eighths pole, I was looking for any holes," Husbands said. "The first hole that opened up, I was clear of that one, and then the second hole opened up by the three-eighths pole, and then at the quarter pole the other one opened up and it was all sailing from there."
Afleet Katherine was up for second, and Merveilleux finished a game third.
Curlin's Voyage improved her record to 5-2-1 from nine starts and has earned US$499,545.
"She's a very special filly; a very, very special filly. I think we knew what we had from the start when we were very bold and put her against the boys the first time out in a stake," Carroll said. "It's not something you do lightly; you have to think one's special.
"I had a few concerns this year with the way the stakes schedule played out. I knew I wasn't going to get a two-turn race in her and it gave me some concern, but I trained her fairly hard into this race and she just thrived on it. Good horses thrive on training."
Bred in Ontario by Hill 'n' Dale, Curlin's Voyage is the third runner and second winner out of the Stormy Atlantic mare Atlantic Voyage, also the dam of stakes-placed Brass Compass. Atlantic Voyage, produced from the Carson City mare Wilshewed, is a full sister to grade 1 winner and sire Stormello and grade 2 winner My Best Brother. She's also a half sister to grade 3 winner Gala Award and stakes winner Cherry Lodge (both by Bernardini ). Following Curlin's Voyage, she foaled a Kitten's Joy colt in 2019, a Speightstown filly April 25, and was reported bred to Tapit for 2021.