Brooklynsway Surprises in Bison City Stakes
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Brooklynsway defeated Galina Point by a nose in the $250,000 Bison City Stakes July 12 at Woodbine, springing a 7-1 surprise.
The 1 1/16-mile Bison City, the second leg of the Triple Tiara for Canadian-foaled 3-year-old fillies, was missing Academic, the shocking winner of the Woodbine Oaks last month, who had elected instead to contest the Queen's Plate July 5.
London Tower, who finished a troubled second in the Oaks as the 4-5 choice, was trying to redeem herself in the Bison City and was the 1-2 favorite. Once again, she left the gate tardily, trailed the field for most of the race, and accelerated wide around the far turn and into the stretch. But was left with too much to do, yet finished third, just a neck behind.
Brooklynsway, fourth for much of the journey, as pacesetter Green Doctor clocked fractions of :23.86, :48.14, and 1:12.71, moved with Galina Point in early stretch in pursuit of front-runner Moon Rainbow, who had briefly taken over turning for home.
Galina Point and jockey Patrick Husbands edged to the front in midstretch, but Brooklynsway fought back on the inside to snatch the narrow victory in the closing strides.
Brooklynsway finished the trip under Emma-Jayne Wilson in 1:44.06 on the Polytrack main track.
Brooklynsway and Galina Point had also contested the Woodbine Oaks on June 14, finishing a length apart in sixth and fifth, respectively.
It was the second Bison City win for owner and trainer John Ross, after taking the 2003 edition with Jam-Jar Racing Stable's Brattothecore, who dead-heated with Seeking The Ring that year, when the race was contested at Fort Erie.
"This filly can be really quirky," Ross said of the filly by Giant Gizmo —Explosive Story, by Radio Star. "She's not an easy filly to handle in the mornings. We've had to do a lot of adjustments. Looks like a lot of this tweaking paid off today. Emma-Jayne gave her a great ride. She looked comfortable on the outside. When this filly's happy, she'll do her thing, but when she's not happy, you'll know it."
Brooklynsway ($17.30) was bred in Ontario by HJT Racing Stable.
The third and final leg in the Canadian filly classic series is the $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes, at 1 1/4 miles on the turf Aug. 9. The top three finishers in the Bison City have never raced on grass.