Toronto, ON – Stuck in Traffic, known for his early speed, took a decidedly different route to win Saturday’s $125,000 New Providence Stakes at Woodbine.
Eurico Rosa da Silva, who partnered Main Executive to victory in last year’s New Providence, rated the son of Kiridashi outside of pacesetter Drunken Love in the early going. Sent off at 9-2, Stuck in Traffic, who finished third in Sovereign Award voting for Canada’s two-year-old male honours in 2007, was third to Drunken Love after opening splits of :21.87 and :44.57 in the six-furlong dash.The Ontario-bred was gaining momentum at the stretch call, as the Mark Fournier-trained duo of Legal Move and Yummy With Butter started their respective rallies. Stuck in Traffic crossed the wire a 2 ¼-length winner, with Legal Move grabbing the runner-up spot for the second consecutive year and Yummy With Butter getting up for third. The final time was 1:09.57 over the Polytrack. “I’m the happiest man in the world just to ride this horse,” said da Silva, aboard the dark bay for the first time in a race. “I worked him in the morning and I was very confident he’d relax. He was running very focused and ran a beautiful race.”
Trainer Nick Gonzalez was happy to see the colt back to his winning ways. Stuck in Traffic was seventh in his seasonal debut, the 5 ½-furlong Jacques Cartier Prep on April 5. “It was just one of those unfortunate things where he ran at the front doors and when he backed away, the doors opened,” noted Gonzalez. “For all the years of racing that I’ve been through, I just wrote that off. I knew that wasn’t him.”
A six-time winner from 13 starts, along with four seconds, Stuck in Traffic won two races from four starts in 2008. “He sat off the speed a little farther than I thought he would,” said Gonzalez. “He’s grown up and he’s a big boy now, so maybe he’s going to do that from here on in.
“I wasn’t really surprised he won. It was the way he did it. It was very encouraging because it looked like he was a one-dimensional horse for a while. Who knows, maybe he’ll go on to bigger and better things.”
Throughout the history of the New Providence, mutuel favourites have fared poorly, winning just four times since the inaugural running of the event in 1982.
Last year, Main Executive, at 11-1, returned $24.70 for the win.
Stuck in Traffic paid $11.50, $5.90 and $3.60 across the board, combining with Legal Move ($6.10, $4.50) for a $90.80 exactor. Yummy With Butter ($3.10) completed a $430.70 triactor. A $1 superfecta paid $638.45.
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