Grade 1 Turf Classics Share Spotlight at Woodbine

Seven fillies and mares will vie for top honors in the CA$600,000 E. P. Taylor Stakes (G1T), while eight starters chase the top prize in the CA$300,000 Northern Dancer Turf Stakes Presented by Pattison (G1T) Oct. 18 at Woodbine.

The 64th running of the E. P. Taylor, a 1 1/4-mile turf test for fillies & mares 3 and up, is complemented by a trio of stakes events, including the 67th edition of the Northern Dancer, a 1 1/2-mile grass engagement for 3-year-olds and upward.

The card will also see nine starters contest the CA$250,000 Nearctic Stakes (G2T) and eight hopefuls face off in the CA$100,000 Display Stakes.

Trainer Gail Cox has a trio of talented turfers taking up the Sam-Son Farm charge: Rideforthecause in the E. P. Taylor and Count Again and Say the Word in the Northern Dancer.

A 4-year-old daughter of Candy Ride , Rideforthecause rolls into the E. P. Taylor off two consecutive scores at Woodbine.

After an allowance optional claiming victory at 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf Aug. 1, the bay was back in the winner's circle Sept. 12 in the Canadian Stakes Presented by the Japan Racing Association (G2T) at the distance of about 1 1/8 miles on the E. P. Taylor turf course.

Sent off at 22-1, the second-longest shot on the board, Rideforthecause, with jockey David Moran aboard, took the lead in midstretch and went on to a four-length score over favorite Cambier Parc.

"I always thought she was a very nice filly," praised Cox. "I knew that she needed a distance of ground, and she never got to do that. A mile and a sixteenth on our outer turf course isn't that far. (Moran) had never ridden her before, and he said that she just did it as easy as could be. He was quite impressed.

"I thought she was being overlooked (in the Canadian). That's all. I train her, so I have a little different outlook. I thought she was being overlooked because it was such a perfect distance for her."

Now, the Ontario-bred will go after her fifth win in what will be the 11th start of her career.

Cox, who campaigned Sam-Son's El Tormenta to a 44-1 shocker in last year's Ricoh Woodbine Mile Stakes (G1T), is hoping to add another graded crown to her list of accomplishments.

"She has been doing really well this year," said Cox. "It seems like she has become a little more settled with age. She was, as a young horse, a bit of a handful. She was nervous, but she's become way more settled. She's doing great. I wouldn't trade places with anyone. She's training well and she looks good. I'm very happy with her."

Court Return, a 4-year-old daughter of Court Vision, goes after her second added-money score and first graded victory. Bred and owned by Ivan Dalos, the Ontario-bred is 2-3-1 from 11 starts.

Etoile, from the stable of Chad Brown, will look to build off a second-place effort in the Dance Smartly Stakes (G2T) Aug. 15 at Woodbine. The 4-year-old French-bred daughter of Siyouni has three wins and a pair of seconds from nine starts for the ownership group of Peter Brant, Susan Magnier, and Mrs. Paul Shanahan.

Multiple graded stakes winner Elizabeth Way goes for her third graded win. Trained by Roger Attfield, the 4-year-old daughter of Frankel won The Very One Stakes (G3T) and Nassau Stakes (G2T) this year. Owned by John McCormack, the chestnut is 3-2-2 from 12 starts.

Pretty Point, trained by Patrick Gallagher, goes after her first stakes win. The 4-year-old daughter of Point of Entry  launched her career with three starts at Woodbine before heading to California. She arrives at the Northern Dancer off a fifth in the Rodeo Drive Stakes (G1T) Sept. 26.

Secret Message, a 5-year-old daughter of Hat Trick, seeks her seventh win in what will be the 19th start of the dark bay's career. Trained by Graham Motion, the well-traveled mare won the 2019 Nassau.

Bred and owned by Augustin Stable, Theodora B. aims for her third straight stakes score after taking the Dance Smartly (G2T) Aug. 15 at Woodbine and the TVG Stakes Sept. 15 at Kentucky Downs. The daughter of Ghostzapper  has a record of 6-5-3 from 18 starts.

The E. P. Taylor Stakes is the final event in Woodbine's Ladies of the Lawn Series. At the conclusion of the series, the connections of the top three point-earners will receive $75,000 in bonuses. Elizabeth Way (18 points), Rideforthecause (10 points), and Theodora B. (10 points) are the top three point-earners to date. The inaugural winner of the 2019 Ladies of the Lawn Series was Starship Jubilee, Canada's reigning Horse of the Year.

Cox Looks for Stakes Double in Northern Dancer

Cox will look to net the stakes double with Rideforthecause's stablemate Count Again in the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes.

The lightly raced 5-year-old son of Awesome Again has been impressive over his six outings.

On Sept. 19, the bay gelding, despite being heavily steadied into the far turn, drove to the front outside of the eighth pole and secured a 1 1/4-length win in the Singspiel Stakes (G3T).

The final time for 1 1/4 miles on a firm E. P. Taylor turf course was 2:00.67.

"He ran great," praised Cox. "Again, it was exactly what he wanted to do, which is to go a distance. A mile and a sixteenth was always a little short for him. So, the added distance … he was really good. He did win pretty easily."

It was the first stakes engagement for Count Again, whom Cox is counting on once again to come up big on the Woodbine grass.

"He's a very nice horse," added Cox. "I know anyone that's trained him has really liked him. He just had this and that, which had bothered him, which led to him having some time off. He needed to get really good and comfortable. He seems to like training here. He does a fair amount of training on the dirt here, but he's been happy here and has come out of his races really well."

The third Sam-Son Farm homebred Sunday is Say the Word, a 5-year-old son of More Than Ready .

Third to Count Again in the Singspiel, the dark bay gelding was sixth in the 2018 Queen's Plate, going on to finish second in the turf Breeders' Stakes, the third jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown, in that same year.

The multiple graded stakes-placed gelding, sporting a record of 4-2-4 from 24 starts, is in search of his first stakes victory.

Cox believes Say the Word will relish the distance.

"He was closing ground (in the Singspiel), and he didn't have the easiest of trips," said Cox. "I think he'll love this distance. He's another one that we had to send away to run farther. And that worked out. But he needs the distance and he doesn't like the Tapeta. He was originally set to run on it, but he just didn't like it."

As for similarities between her trio of stakes hopefuls, Cox only sees a pair of obvious connections.

"Besides liking to go long and liking the turf, they don't really have anything in common," said Cox. "They're pretty different horses. Most of the time there's something that you're usually worried about, but they are all coming into these races well."

Admiralty Pier, who won last year's Tampa Bay Stakes (G3T) at 21-1, will chase his sixth victory in his 23rd start. Bred by Calumet Farm and owned by Hoolie Racing Stable and Bruce Lunsford, the son of English Channel  finished second in both the Connaught Cup (G2T) and King Edward (G2T) before a sixth in the Ricoh Woodbine Mile Sept. 19.

Four-year-old ridgling Jungle Fighter, a son of Animal Kingdom, will get his fourth shot at graded stakes glory having contested last year's Ontario Derby (G3) and this year's Seagram Cup (G3) and Singspiel. Trained by Michael Doyle for Stronach Stables, the Kentucky-bred is 3-3-1 from 10 starts.

Staghawk Stables' 5-year-old Nakamura is a four-time winner in 17 starts who won three straight races in 2019. He will be making his second straight start at Woodbine after finishing fourth in the Singspiel.

Peace of Ekati, owned by Colebrook Farms and bred by Charles Fipke, has eight top-three finishes from 16 starts. Trained by Ashlee Brnjas, the 5-year-old son of Tale of Ekati  has finished second in his two previous starts. The Northern Dancer will be the chestnut gelding's first graded stakes appearance.

Five-year-old Sir Sahib, trained by Kevin Attard, looks for his first win since May 18, 2019. The Stronach Stables silk-bearer has a 2-4-7 mark from 20 outings and arrives at the Northern Dancer off a runner-up performance in the Singspiel. The son of Fort Larned  will be ridden by Justin Stein.

An Ontario-bred 6-year-old son of Langfuhr, Woodbridge is 3-2-7 from 27 starts. The gelding, owned by the Estate of Gustav Schickedanz and Donald Howard, was fifth last time out in the Singspiel. The bay is trained by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Michael Keogh.

Sam-Son has a record seven Northern Dancer trophies, including three straight scores from 2002-04. Full of Wonder kicked off the natural hat trick, followed by back-to-back wins by Strut the Stage.

Entries: Northern Dancer Turf S. Presented by Pattison (G1T)

Woodbine, Sunday, October 18, 2020, Race 5

• Grade IT
• 1 1/2m
• Turf
• $300,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 3:29 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Say the Word (ON)	Emma-Jayne Wilson	121	Gail Cox	8/1
2	2Peace of Ekati (KY)	Daisuke Fukumoto	121	Ashlee Brnjas	20/1
3	3Sir Sahib (KY)	Justin Stein	121	Kevin Attard	7/2
4	4Jungle Fighter (KY)	Rafael Manuel Hernandez	121	Michael J. Doyle	20/1
5	5Nakamura (MD)	Kazushi Kimura	121	H. Graham Motion	3/1
6	6Woodbridge (ON)	Sahin Civaci	121	Michael Keogh	10/1
7	7Admiralty Pier (KY)	Steven Ronald Bahen	123	Barbara J. Minshall	9/2
8	8Count Again (ON)	Luis Contreras	123	Gail Cox	2/1