Woodbine Opens, Dreaming of Drew Tops Long Branch

The CA$100,000 Long Branch Stakes for fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, headlines opening day of the 2022 Woodbine Thoroughbred season, slated as the seventh race on the Apr. 16 eight-race card.

A field of seven drew for the 5 1/2-furlong feature on the Tapeta main track, including Hoolie Racing Stable and Madaket Stables' Dreaming of Drew .

The Long Branch is the longest race on the opening-day card, with the seven other races at five furlongs or shorter. Woodbine typically cards sprint races to begin its meet before increasing races in distance as horses on its grounds gain more fitness following inactivity over the winter months.

Dreaming of Drew, a 4-year-old Speightster   filly trained by Barbara Minshall, will be making her first start in nearly a year and a half after being sent to the sidelines with an injury. Her last effort was an authoritative 3 3/4-length score in the 2020 Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Woodbine. 

"(Dreaming of Drew is) doing great," said Minshall. "She’s been down with Travis Durr in South Carolina all this time. She's come up from there and she's come up in great shape. We want to get her back in action. It's been a year and a half since she last ran. It may be a little shorter than her ideal distance, but she's fit and she's ready to go. We want to get her back on a program, follow that, and keep on going from there."  

Minshall has long been impressed with one of her stable stars, who most recently drilled a sharp half-mile in :47 April 9 over the Woodbine oval, the fastest of 162 works at that distance. 

"She’s always been a great filly, no question about it. She just had an injury that took time to heal. Sometimes, time heals a lot. This time last year, we had her at Keeneland with the intent to run her in the spring, but she got hurt, so it's pretty much a year later."  

Dreaming of Drew will break from post 4 with Patrick Husbands in the irons. She will face a stiff challenge from the 7-5 morning line favorite Our Secret Agent , the winner of last year's Hendrie Stakes (G3) from the powerful Mark Casse barn. The Gary Barber-owned 5-year-old makes her 2022 debut in the Long Branch.

Florida shipper Nikee Kan  should also pose a threat as she arrives at Woodbine fresh off a runner-up finish in the Feb. 12 Ladies' Turf Sprint Stakes on the grass at Gulfstream Park. 

First post is 1:10 p.m. ET. Racing continues at Woodbine April 17 with a card that includes the $100,000 Thorncliffe Stakes for older male sprinters at 5 1/2 furlongs. 

Entries: Long Branch S.

Woodbine, Saturday, April 16, 2022, Race 7

• STK
• 5 1/2f
• All Weather Track
• $100,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 4:22 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Our Secret Agent (KY)	Kazushi Kimura	121	Mark E. Casse	7/5
2	2Nikee Kan (FL)	Rafael Manuel Hernandez	119	Jose Francisco D'Angelo	5/2
3	3Jeanie B (GB)	Antonio A. Gallardo	119	Mark E. Casse	7/2
4	4Dreaming of Drew (ON)	Patrick Husbands	119	Barbara J. Minshall	6/1
5	5Marais (KY)	Eswan Flores	119	Don Pleterski	20/1
6	6Ima Beast (FL)	Sahin Civaci	119	Harold Ladouceur	20/1
7	7Imagery (KY)	Daisuke Fukumoto	119	Vito Armata	15/1