Merveilleux Earns First Stakes Win in Wonder Where
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Photo: Michael Burns
Merveilleux wins the Wonder Where Stakes at Woodbine
Al and Bill Ulwelling's hard-luck filly Merveilleux was simply marvelous Oct. 25 at Woodbine, winning the CA$250,800 (US$191,048) Wonder Where Stakes, the third leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara.
Jockey Rafael Hernandez worked out the winning trip aboard the Kevin Attard trainee, who was rated midpack along the rail early in the 1 1/4-mile turf test for 3-year-old fillies foaled in Canada.
Leaving from the inside post on the turn of the E. P. Taylor turf course, She's a Dream assumed command with Justleaveitalone to her outside before crossing in front as the field moved down the backstretch.
Justleaveitalone clocked an opening quarter in :24.99, a half-mile in :50.89, and three-quarters in 1:16.60 with She's a Dream pressing the pace in second and Merveilleux, racing without blinkers, behind the leaders and poised to make a move on the final turn.
Hernandez tipped Merveilleux outside coming into the stretch approaching the one-mile mark in 1:41:16, and the Paynter filly took off to score by three lengths. The winning time was 2:05.34 on a firm course.
Closing from the backfield, Gun Society finished second and the Josie Carroll-trained Curlin's Voyage, the 2-1 favorite after winning the Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser and finishing fifth in the Queen's Plate, was third. She's a Dream edged Justleaveitalone for fourth by a half-length.
Sansa's Vow, the Attard-trained 3-1 second choice Afleet Katherine, Forty Zip, Ballrooms of Mars, and Beyond Mybudget completed the order of finish.
"We've been having a rough meet with this one," Hernandez said. "I was impressed with the performance, and we had a clean trip today."
Hernandez said his filly was relaxed in the first turn and all the way down the backside.
"Turning for home, you switch and I said, 'Come on baby, keep it up. We have to do it!'"
Sent postward as the 5-1 third choice, Merveilleux paid $13.80 to win.
Bred in Ontario by Mike Carroll, Merveilleux showed her potential as a youngster, finishing a close second in both the Princess Elizabeth Stakes and Ontario Lassie Stakes to complete her 2-year-old campaign.
She won her June 21 sophomore debut before contesting a trio of stakes events, including the Woodbine Oaks, where she finished a game third despite traffic trouble. Merveilleux was sixth in the Queen's Plate.
"She's been hard luck," Attard said. "We've always liked her a lot. We thought heading into the Oaks we had the right kind of horse, and even heading into the Plate with her, we were really excited. Unfortunately, things haven't gone her way. It's been a tough season for the Ulwellings to boot, so it's just kind of the way the cards stack up, and everything lined up our way today and she just had a good trip and ran to our expectations."
Despite Merveilleux being pulled up in her only other grass race, when making her first start in July 2019, Attard wasn't concerned about the surface change, attributing the initial result to hot weather and noting the filly skimmed over the turf last weekend in her latest work.
Merveilleux has a 3-3-1 record from 10 starts and earnings of US$305,909.