Desert Ride Adds to Family's Résumé in Woodbine Oaks

Sam-Son Farm's lightly raced homebred Desert Ride, who hails from Canadian champions, kept the family's success rolling when she closed fast to take the US$377,504 Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser June 8. The 1 1/8-mile test on Woodbine's Tapeta track for 3-year-old fillies bred in Canada was the first stakes attempt for the Candy Ride  filly.

Desert Ride's dam, Fun in the Desert, is a daughter of Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Eye of the Sphynx, another Woodbine Oaks winner who made the grade in the Selene Stakes (G2). Eye of the Sphynx also produced Eye of the Leopard , whose Queen's Plate Stakes and Plate Trial Stakes wins propelled him to Canadian champion 3-year-old colt honors; Deceptive Vision, winner of the Canadian Stakes (G2T) and Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare (G3) Stakes; and Hotep, who won the Wando and Mobil stakes at Woodbine.

"A fantastic filly from a fantastic family, and we're just so happy to be back up here again," said Rick Balaz, president and general manager of Sam-Son Farm. "It's been a little while for us, and it's pretty exciting. We'll see where we go next with her, but hopefully she's got a great future."

In Saturday's feature, Desert Ride received a patient ride from jockey Steven Bahen, who kept the Neil Howard trainee near the back of the 10-horse field. Intanga Rose led the way through opening fractions of :23.48, :48.01, and 1:12.55. Favored Speedy Soul briefly caught the lead at the top of the stretch before Bold Script went by and looked like a winner.

Desert Ride, an 8-1 choice, came running fast while five wide and nipped the leader by a neck. She hit the wire in 1:50.43 on a fast track.

"I've watched her races, and she's come from behind," Bahen said. "Neil said just get her settled in and try to give her a good trip. Down the backside, it looked like I'm going to get out now and give her a shot to run at them, and I started a little early with her, but when she turned for home, she gave me a huge run like she did in her previous races."

Runner-up Bold Script was 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Speedy Soul, who finished two lengths in front of Intanga Rose.

A decision on whether Desert Ride will aim for the June 29 Queen's Plate, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, has not been made yet.

"If I'm taking a line from the (Toronto) Raptors, you play it one game at a time, and we just got this one on the scoreboard and we'll see how she comes out of it and then we'll have a conversation as we always do about what to do next," said Sam-Son Farm's CEO, Mark Samuel. "But we're very excited by her, and we love our good fillies."

"She's a lovely filly," Howard added. "The mile and an eighth was obviously something that we were looking forward to, and she needed every bit of that. We couldn't be more thrilled, as Mr. Samuel and Mr. Balaz said. She's just a just a lovely filly, easy to train, and the boy rode her beautiful."

Desert Ride is the first of three foals out of Fun in the Desert, by Distorted Humor , and she has a full yearling brother.

The Woodbine Oaks improved Desert Ride's record to three wins and one second from four starts, all since January. She now boasts $297,360 in earnings.

Pay for Peace Upsets Plate Trial 

Team Penney Racing and Carem Stables' Pay for Peace won his first stakes at 19-1 in the $94,527 Plate Trial Stakes, which saw nine Ontario-bred 3-year-olds run 1 1/8 miles on the Tapeta.

The 9-5 favorite, Federal Law, pulled ahead to a three-length lead and ticked off opening fractions of :24.17, :48.64, and 1:12.73. Pay for Peace started in fourth under jockey Luis Contreras before moving up into third. The Silent Name  gelding ranged up on Federal Law's outside in the stretch and bested the top choice by 1 3/4 lengths. Pay for Peace finished the nine furlongs in 1:51.63.

Rising Star was a head back in third, followed by Moon Swings.

The Plate Trial was the second win in eight starts for Pay for Peace, who'd been off the board in three starts since breaking his maiden. Bred by Brian Lynch Racing, he has $91,006 in earnings. The winning effort put the Queen's Plate on trainer Rachel Halden's radar.

"We weren't thinking about it. Like I say, he's just a real big old galloper. I think this horse will step up on the turf, and we've been kind of thinking Breeders' Stakes," Halden said, referencing the 1 1/2-mile final leg of Canada's Triple Crown run on turf.

"He did jump up and run a big race today," she continued. "We will definitely be thinking about it now, and we'll see how he comes out of it and have a discussion with his owners and see."

Pay for Peace is the second of five foals out of Dancing Bay, a daughter of Sligo Bay  who placed in multiple stakes at Woodbine.

Sister Peacock Keeps Rolling in Graham Memorial

Brent McLellan, Russell McLellan, and trainer Stuart Simon's Sister Peacock scored back-to-back stakes victories when she rolled home to win the $77,193 William D. Graham Memorial Stakes against 12 competitors.

The 3-year-old Real Solution  filly sat just off the pace of Silent Mistake, who set opening fractions of :22.45 and :44.67 in the 6 1/2-furlong test on firm turf. Jockey Jesse Campbell and Sister Peacock took over early in Woodbine's stretch, opened up, and hit the wire 2 1/4 lengths in front. She completed the race in 1:13.80 as the 5-2 favorite.

Double Medal rallied to capture second at 34-1 over Lady Grace and Miss Behave.

Sister Peacock's win had a special meaning for Simon.

"We named her after a guy (Cecil Peacock) that I trained for … about 30 years," he said. "He was one of the nicest men you'll ever meet. So I wanted to pay tribute to him and name her that."

Never worse than second in six starts, Sister Peacock won her first stakes in the April 21 Star Shoot Stakes over Woodbine's Tapeta. She was bred in Kentucky by Ken and Sarah Ramsey and purchased for $9,000 when consigned by Darby Dan Farm at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Her career earnings now stand at $154,472.

Sister Peacock is the fourth foal and winner out of the In Excess mare Imforeal, who foaled a Kitten's Joy  colt in 2018 and was bred back to Twirling Candy .

Video: Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser (BT)