Millie Girl Mows Them Down in Maple Leaf Stakes

Millie Girl  made it back-to-back grade 3 wins defeating 11 other fillies and mares over the 1 1/4-mile Woodbine Tapeta course in taking the CA$150,000 Maple Leaf Stakes (G3) Nov. 11.

For the ownership of Kingfield Racing Stable, Braconcrest and Apricot Valley Thoroughbreds, the 5-year-old Hard Spun   mare settled five-wide and several lengths off the 64-1 early longshot leader Inventing  through opening fractions of :23.69, :47.59, and 1:12.28 for the first six furlongs.

Under the confident handling of the meet's leading rider Raphael Hernandez, the five-time winning mare circled the field with a full head of steam at the top of the stretch and cruised to the wire an easy back-to-back graded-stakes winner.  The final winning margin was two widening lengths for a final time of 2:03.53 for the 1 1/4-mile route event. The Sean Fitzhenry-bred mare was a late-closing head winner of the Ontario Matron (G3) in her most recent start Oct. 14.

"I tried to keep her clear of this big field. She always gives me everything. She's all heart," said jockey Raphael Hernandez, who scored his fourth victory on the Woodbine card.  

Millie Girl, trained by Catherine Day Phillips, paid $4.50 for a $2 win wager. The Mark Casse-trained Solo Album  closed late to finish second and Angelou  was third.

Millie Girl, bred by Sean Fitzhenry, is now is 5-2-3 from 10 career starts with earnings of $361,561. She was purchased for $67,000 by her trainer Catherine Day Phillips, consignor Keith Lancaster, at the 2021 Keeneland Association November Breeding Stock Sale.

Video: Maple Leaf S. (G3)