Ready For The Lady Rallies for Singspiel Stakes Win
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Photo: Michael Burns
Emma-Jayne Wilson guides Ready for the Lady to victory in the Singspiel Stakes at Woodbine
Trainer Roger Attfield decided to add Ready for the Lady to the field of the Sept. 18 $150,000 Singspiel Stakes (G3T) at Woodbine because the field was so small he thought it would help allow the race to take place.
Little did he know it would be a decision that would pay dividends.
Ready for the Lady entered with the second-longest odds (14-1) in the six-horse field and used a late surge to rally past even-money favorite King Vega and British Royalty (9-5) to earn his first graded stakes victory.
The Charles Fipke homebred stopped the clock in this 1 3/8-mile race for 3-year-olds and up in 2:18.12.
The early going did not look good for Ready for the Lady as he sat in last, 2 1/2 lengths behind his nearest competitor, after a quarter-mile. Collective Force set the early pace at :26.72. He began to put some distance between himself and King Vega at the half-mile with a fraction of :52.27. Meanwhile, Ready for the Lady, under Emma-Jayne Wilson, joined the rest of the field despite still being last.
"He's done that every time he's run," Wilson told Woodbine's in-house broadcast. "He just keeps coming, keeps coming."
Behind them, British Royalty, who had been going stride for stride with Elusive Knight , took over sole possession of third. With the urging of Patrick Sullivan, British Royalty sped forward to join the leaders. Collective Force, however, after posting a fraction of 1:17.16 at the 6-furlong mark, still held a length advantage over King Vega.
Ready for the Lady still seemed disinterested and was bringing up the rear. That lack of interest is nothing new.
"He just didn't have any desire (last year)," Attfield said. "I knew there was ability there, but he wasn't putting it out. I would have liked to have gelded him at that time, but Chuck would never geld one. All of a sudden, he started to do better and started to put his mind to it a little bit more and allowed me to train him a little bit harder."
As the field made its way around the final turn, King Vega was finally able to overtake Collective Force, who appeared to lose steam after leading at a mile with a time of 1:40.76.
But it was Wilson, taking Ready for the Lady to the outside, who had the most fuel to burn.
British Royalty made an all-out run for the lead four wide, challenging the leader, whose 2:04.93 set the tone for 1 1/4 miles. No sooner did British Royalty supplant King Vega did Ready for the Lady's mad dash toward the finish line pay off, and he pulled clear with his final six strides. British Royalty was second, three-quarters of a length behind.
"I had to motivate him quite early and build and build and build," Wilson said. "But I'll tell you, when we straightened he had dead aim on them and he was just flying. Every stride he took he got a little bit stronger."
Collective Force, King Vega, Elusive Knight, and Enchant Me rounded out the order of finish. Ready for the Lady paid $30.60 to win.
"It was a brilliant ride," Fipke said. "I can't believe she did such a wonderful job."
Ready for the Lady is the son of More Than Ready and Perfect Lady , by Perfect Soul (IRE). He is 2-1-1 in eight career starts with earnings of $125,001.