Starship Jubilee Upsets Canadian Stakes

Trainer Kevin Attard and Soli Mehta's Starship Jubilee pulled off the upset with a last-to-first run to defeat the favored Chad Brown trainees in the $250,000 Canadian Stakes Presented by Japan Racing Association (G2T), during the stakes-packed program at Woodbine Sept. 15.

Jockey Luis Contreras worked out a patient trip in the 1 1/8-mile turf event for older fillies and mares to secure his third Canadian Stakes win in the last six years.

Starship Jubilee, after a break from post 6, settled toward the back of the six-horse field early on, while Daring Duchess assumed the leading role, with grade 1 winner New Money Honey pressing the pace through fractions of :23.08 and :45.68. Turning for home, Contreras swung Starship Jubilee out three wide and she rallied past her rivals to win in 1:42.91 by 3 1/4 lengths.

New Money Honey struck the front in the upper stretch and held off her favored fellow Brown-trained stablemate, Inflexibility, who had stalked the pace and closed into the photo for place.

"She was really good. Kevin told me in the paddock just to get her to relax. That's the best way she can finish the race, and he was right," Contreras said. "I was waiting. I got a perfect trip. She helped me a lot. When I got her to relax, she was nice and calm early. Once I hit the three-eighths (pole), I saw my room and I went through, and she gave me everything from there."

Bred in Florida by William Sorren, the 5-year-old Indy Wind mare earned her third graded stakes win at Woodbine and 11th victory overall from 23 starts.

"I love this horse. We thought we had a great shot. You only had to worry about (New Money Honey)," Mehta said.

Starship Jubilee, who finished third in the Canadian Stakes last year, won the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park in January and was a close runner-up in the subsequent Mary Todd Stakes there. She entered the Canadian Stakes off a winning effort in a 1 1/16-mile turf allowance prep after unsuccessful outings in the Nassau (G2T) and Dance Smartly (G2T).

"I made a few mistakes with her early this year," Attard said. "We sent her home for a break and she kind of just didn't swing back after that vacation. We needed a confidence builder in her and we found one for her, and she was pretty authoritative that day. She came into this race and she worked lights out last week, and I just had a good feeling that, if we had a good trip, she'd come running down the lane."

Overlooked at odds of 11-1, Starship Jubilee returned $25.30, $8.40, and $3.40 across the board.

Bletchley finished fourth, and was followed by Hallie Belle and Daring Duchess to complete the order of finish.