Hillaby Likely to Bounce Back in Seaway

Stonestreet Stable's Hillaby, the beaten favorite last time out in the Sweet Briar Too Stakes, figures to bounce back in her second start of the year Aug. 8 in the $150,000 Seaway Stakes (Can-III) at Woodbine.



Hillaby, a daugher of Distorted Humor  —Sealy Hill, by Point Given  , won last year's Bessarabian Stakes (Can-II) at the Seaway's seven-furlong distance. She returned off a seven-month break July 1 in the Sweet Briar Too, dropping a three-quarter length decision to Endless Light. Sealy Hill was Canada's 2007 Horse of the Year while taking Canada's filly Triple Crown.



Hillaby continues to train strongly for Mark Casse, with a 1:00 3/5 five-furlong move Aug. 1. She was bred by Eugene Melnyk and was a $500,000 purchase by Stonestreet Stables last year during Melnyk's dispersal as part of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Horses of Racing Age sale. She's a four-time winner from eight starts and is three-for-five over the local surface.



Endless Light, a British-bred daughter of Pivotal—Celeste, by Green Desert, was a maiden winner in her own country in 2013 prior to shipping overseas. Second in a pair of turf races at a mile at Gulfstream Park and Woodbine off more than a year break, she made her synthetic debut July 1, where she got the Seaway trip in 1:21.96.



There is a four-pound weight shift from the Sweet Briar, as Endless Light picks up two pounds to 119 for the Seaway while Hillaby drops two to 117.



Anne Walsh's Cactus Kris, a 4-year-old filly by Cactus Ridge is two-for-two this year at Presque Isle Downs. Last year at Woodbine, she missed by a nose to Pirate's Trove in the seven-furlong Duchess Stakes.



Al Shahania Racing's Pirate's Trove makes her 2015 bow in the Seaway. Last year she also won the Etobicoke Stakes over the local layout.



Miss Mischief, by Into Mischief  , was second to Skylander Girl in May in the 6 1/2-furlong Hendrie Stakes (Can-III) and was a closing third when stretched out to two turns June 13 in the Trillium Stakes.



Skylander Girl makes her third start of the year in the Seaway. She won the Hendrie last May and has the most experience in the field with a 4-7-3 mark from 25 career starts. She has earned $574,662.