Lexie Lou Headlines Victoriana Stakes

Gary Barber's Lexie Lou, who won the 1 1/8-mile Dance Smartly Stakes (Can-IIT) July 3 on the Queen's Plate program at Woodbine, returns July 30 for the $125,000 Victoriana Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on grass.

Lexie Lou, a 5-year-old Sligo Bay   mare who was voted Canada's Horse of the Year for 2014, is one of seven fillies and mares entered in the Victoriana, race eight on the Saturday card at Woodbine.

The Dance Smartly victory was her second grade II stakes win in Canada this year.

"I was in tears after the race. It was so emotional seeing her run," said Kathryn Sullivan, assistant to trainer Mark Casse. "She tried so hard and she wasn't going to let anyone get past her. She was switching her tail and I thought she was caught. I actually sat down. But when she came back on, we all jumped back up again."

Sullivan said Lexie Lou, a nine-time winner who in 2014 also was voted champion 3-year-old filly and turf mare, is getting better with age.

"She's a quirky little filly and the feistier she is the better she runs," Sullivan said. "Sometimes that's how it is with fillies; they need that determined streak in them to really be a good horse and to win. In that way, it's hard to say she has really matured, but I do think she just keeps getting better and better."