Shakopee Town wins Woodbine's Whimsical Stakes

The 2019 Thoroughbred meet kicked off April 20 at Woodbine, and trainer Kevin Attard picked up where he left off as Shakopee Town was victorious in the first stakes event of the season.

Attard, who won the final stakes of the 2018 meet with Al and Bill Ulwelling's Valedictory Stakes (G3) scorer Pumpkin Rumble, was back in the spotlight on Opening Day with their Woodbine newcomer Shakopee Town.

After posting a pair of wins at Fair Grounds this year, Shakopee Town made her Woodbine debut a winning one in the $125,000 Whimsical Stakes Presented by Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (G3) for older fillies and mares.

Tarawa and Alnilah took turns on the lead early through opening fractions of :22.22 and :45.35, with Shakopee Town gaining ground inside to challenge at the top of the stretch. She then rallied 3 1/4 lengths clear to take the lion's share of the purse and complete six furlongs in 1:09.55 under jockey Alan Garcia. Sly Beauty and Zestina finished second and third, respectively. Alnilah, Magic Spell and Tarawa completed the order of finish.

Previously trained by Gary Scherer, Shakopee Town earned her fifth win from 11 starts. The 4-year-old Jersey Town  filly out of the Evansville Slew mare Shakopee returned $4.90 to win as the 7-5 favorite.

"Gary sure did a wonderful job with her. He's managed her great. She came to me looking fabulous," Attard said about the Ulwellings' homebred filly. "They were looking for some black type. They breed and they own this family, so this was obviously a good opportunity, and we passed with flying colors.

"They've really supported Canadian racing. They're breeding a lot of horses here in Canada now and in Ontario, and they're great people to work for. It's been a pleasure. We enjoy having these good horses come our way."

Attard has ranked among the top three trainers at the Toronto oval for the past four years, with his stable amassing a career-best local win tally of 55 last year, including six stakes.