Afleet Katherine Bypasses Plate, Heads Bison City

Before two 3-year-old fillies—Curlin's Voyage and Merveilleux—take on the boys in the Queen's Plate Sept. 12 at Woodbine, eight other Canadian-bred sophomore fillies compete in the CA$250,000 Bison City Stakes a couple of races earlier.

Headlining the field is the one that split that Queen's Plate pair in the Woodbine Oaks: Afleet Katherine. The Woodbine Oaks runner-up also notched two earlier victories.

Though she could have been supplemented to the Queen's Plate at a cost of $25,000, her connections opted for more conservative placement Saturday in the Bison City. The 1 1/16-mile race on Tapeta seems far easier, leaving the 3-year-old Afleet Alex  filly owned by Terra Racing Stable as the 4-5 morning-line favorite.   

“We discussed it (running in the Queen’s Plate) a little bit, obviously,” said trainer Kevin Attard, who conditions her for Terra triumvirate of Dom Romeo; his son, Frank; and his grandson, Mike Romeo. “From the beginning, it kind of seemed the road was going to be the Bison City.  

“Frank Romeo thought she had done a lot to this point, and was obviously concerned about her long-term future, and didn’t want to do too much too soon with her. You have to respect that a lot, I think.”  

Justin Stein, her regular rider, retains the mount on the filly, a half sister to grade 2 winner Amalfi Coast (by Tapizar ), who also races Saturday in the Canadian Stakes.

The only stakes winners in the Bison City are Gun Society and Infinite Patience.  

Gun Society, who closed out her first campaign with back-to-back wins including the South Ocean for Ontario-sired fillies at the 1 1/16-mile distance, appears to have rounded back into form for her fourth start of this season.  

Infinite Patience, the British Columbia-bred who was the pride of Hastings Racecourse last year while winning four stakes, will be looking to rebound from a faltering seventh-place finish in the Woodbine Oaks.  

Also returning from the Woodbine Oaks will be Mizzen Beau and Justleaveitalone, the respective fourth and fifth-place finishers.  

The Bison City is the second leg of Woodbine's Triple Tiara, following the Woodbine Oaks and before the $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes, a 1 1/4-mile turf test Oct. 25.  

Entries: Bison City S.

Woodbine, Saturday, September 12, 2020, Race 8

• STK
• 1 1/16m
• All Weather Track
• $250,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 4:17 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Ballrooms of Mars (ON)	Emma-Jayne Wilson	121	Catherine Day Phillips	20/1
2	2Afleet Katherine (ON)	Justin Stein	121	Kevin Attard	4/5
3	3Truth Hurts (ON)	Rafael Manuel Hernandez	121	Chad Summers	6/1
4	4Mizzen Beau (ON)	Steven Ronald Bahen	121	Norm W. Casse	4/1
5	5Pseudonym (ON)	Luis Contreras	121	Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.	8/1
6	6Justleaveitalone (ON)	Sahin Civaci	121	Robert B. Hess, Jr.	20/1
7	7Infinite Patience (BC)	Patrick Husbands	121	Lorne Richards	12/1
8	8Gun Society (ON)	Kazushi Kimura	121	Roger L. Attfield	10/1