Cup and Saucer Among Three Stakes Oct. 10 at Woodbine

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Cup and Saucer Among Three Stakes Oct. 10 at Woodbine
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Photo: Woodbine/Michael Burns Photo
Where's Neal wins the Bull Page Stakes at Woodbine

Three stakes races—two graded and another for Canadian-bred runners carrying a CA$250,000 purse—headline the action at Woodbine Oct. 10.

The CA$150,000 Durham Cup (G3), featuring 2019 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Sir Winston  and 2020 Queen's Plate winner Mighty Heart , is the first of the stakes as the third race on the card. The 1 1/16-mile race on Tapeta drew only three other runners—Tap It to Win , Halo Again , and Special Forces .

The CA$150,000 Ontario Matron Stakes (G3), at the same distance on the main track but for females, drew one more entrant to have a cast of six. Skygaze  is favored in that race, the ninth on the afternoon.

That leaves the Cup and Saucer Stakes for Canadian-bred 2-year-olds as the deepest stakes race with 11 entered, including a duo trained by Dan Vella, Spring Mountain  and Where's Neal . It, too, is at 1 1/16 miles, but on turf.

Bred in Ontario by Linda Mason, Sea Glass Stables' Where's Neal (Society's Chairman ) heads into the Cup and Saucer off a maiden-breaking victory in the Bull Page Stakes, contested over one mile on turf Sept. 17. The gelding set the pace and crossed the line three-quarters of a length victor.

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Spring Mountain (Silent Name  ), meanwhile, ran second in a maiden race and third in the Bull Page for owners Stephan and Rita Shefsky, Willy and Toby Kruh, Solomon Pillersdorf, and his trainer.

"These two, you knew right from the start that they had potential," Vella reflected. "Where's Neal had the benefit of going to Florida. Mike Cooke had him down there for me and he told me that this was a pretty nice horse. We knew that. The horse came up here to Woodbine six weeks before I ran him the first time.

"Spring Mountain stayed here and he was out at CamHaven Farms all winter. Right from the start … big, strong horse and big stride. He does everything kind of aggressively. His mother (Moonlit Beauty ) was a great horse. We bought him mostly on looks. He's just a big, good-looking horse."

Another contender in the race is Dancin in Da'nile , a Sam-Son Farm homebred trained by Gail Cox.

The son of Pioneerof the Nile  made his debut a winning one, eking out a neck victory in a seven-furlong Tapeta race originally scheduled for the turf.

"I thought his first start was very impressive," praised Cox. "He was a little bit green, but really ran a very good race. I think he should take a step forward from that."

Stronger Together , bred by Jim Dandy Stable and owned by Spruce Park Stable, heads into his second start and first stakes appearance off a third-place finish Sept. 5.

Sent off at 5-1 in the one-mile-and-70-yard Tapeta race, the son of Liam's Map  , trained by Sid Attard, was steadied at the start finding himself 11 lengths behind the leader a quarter-mile into the race. Fifth at the stretch call, Stronger Together netted the show award, beaten just a neck for the top spot.

"He's been doing really well," said Attard. "He came out of the gate slow, but he ran a huge race. I was very happy with how he recovered from that start and how hard he was running at the end of the race. He was really running hard."


Entries: Durham Cup S. (G3)

Woodbine, Sunday, October 10, 2021, Race 3

  • Grade III
  • 1 1/16m
  • All Weather Track
  • $150,000
  • 3 yo's & up
  • 1:57 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Mighty Heart (ON) Patrick Husbands 125 Josie Carroll 8/5
2 2Sir Winston (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Antonio A. Gallardo 122 Mark E. Casse 7/5
3 3Tap It to Win (FL) Rafael Manuel Hernandez 123 Mark E. Casse 3/1
4 4Halo Again (ON)Keeneland Sales Graduate Shaun Bridgmohan 121 Steven M. Asmussen 12/1
5 5Special Forces (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Justin Stein 121 Kevin Attard 6/1


Entries: Cup and Saucer S.

Woodbine, Sunday, October 10, 2021, Race 8

  • STK
  • 1 1/16m
  • Turf
  • $250,000
  • 2 yo
  • 4:37 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Spring Mountain (ON) Luis Contreras 122 Daniel J. Vella 10/1
2 2God of Love (ON)Keeneland Sales Graduate Rafael Manuel Hernandez 122 Mark E. Casse 10/1
3 3Hidden Honor (ON)Keeneland Sales Graduate Antonio A. Gallardo 122 Kevin Attard 8/1
4 4Shamateur (ON) Emma-Jayne Wilson 122 Michael J. Doyle 12/1
5 5Dancin in Da'nile (ON) Shaun Bridgmohan 122 Gail Cox 10/1
6 6Mentoring (BC) Keveh Nicholls 122 Philip Hall 12/1
7 7Stronger Together (ON) Justin Stein 122 Sid C. Attard 6/1
8 8Fast Feet (ON) Kazushi Kimura 122 Mark E. Casse 3/1
9 9Brutality (ON)Keeneland Sales Graduate Gary Boulanger 122 Michael P. De Paulo 15/1
10 10Where's Neal (ON) David Moran 122 Daniel J. Vella 4/1
11 11Chairman Bob (ON) Patrick Husbands 122 Kevin Attard 8/1


Entries: Ontario Matron S. (G3)

Woodbine, Sunday, October 10, 2021, Race 9

  • Grade III
  • 1 1/16m
  • All Weather Track
  • $150,000
  • 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
  • 5:09 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Art of Almost (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Emma-Jayne Wilson 122 Mark E. Casse 7/2
2 2Crystal Glacier (KY) Kazushi Kimura 122 Mark E. Casse 5/2
3 3Afleet Katherine (ON) Justin Stein 121 Kevin Attard 6/1
4 4Saratoga Vision (KY) Rafael Manuel Hernandez 121 Alexander P. Patykewich 20/1
5 5Juxtapose (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Gary Boulanger 122 Steven Owens 10/1
6 6Skygaze (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Patrick Husbands 123 Mark E. Casse 6/5