Woodbine Oaks winner MUNNYFOR RO and Bison City Stakes winner IL MALOCCHIO, winners of the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Tiara for 3-year-old fillies born in this country, have the rubber match October 2 at Woodbine. The Wonder Where could have strong implications for the Sovereign Award for Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.
The $250,0000 Wonder Where Stakes, named for the champion filly Wonder Where, Canada’s 1959 Horse of the Year and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee, wraps up the Tiara. The race is 1 1/4 miles on the E.P. Taylor turf course.
Coincidentally, Munnyfor Ro and Il Malocchio are the only entrants in the nine-horse field to have won on the turf. And only four in the field have won races of any kind.
A chestnut daughter of Munnings, Munnyfor Ro, trained by Kevin Attard, figures to be favoured. She heads into the Wonder Where off a fourth-place finish in the Queen’s Plate on August 22, just 1 3/4 lengths back of Safe Conduct at the finish.
Owned by Raroma Stable, Munnyfor Ro has compiled a record of 2-2-2 from 10 starts, which includes a runner-up outing in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes in July.
The filly is no stranger to turf, with six grass races under her saddle, highlighted by a maiden-breaking nose score over 1 1/8-miles on good ground at Keeneland this April.
Munnyfor Ro launched her career last October at Woodbine, finishing eighth in a six-furlong sprint over the E.P. Taylor.
“We’re obviously excited to see her back on turf, she had run so well over that footing during the winter and prior to coming back to Woodbine,” said Attard. “She seems like she’s matured from a physical standpoint since the Queens Plate. I’ve been satisfied with the way she’s trained heading into the Wonder Where and I’m expecting her to run very well.”
Il Malocchio is another consistent contender, sporting a record of 2-3-2 from 10 starts for trainer Martin Drexler and owner Franco Meli.
The daughter of Souper Speedy arrives at the Wonder Where in top form, punctuated by her impressive victory in the Bison City.
This will be the seventh overall stakes appearance and fourth straight added-money engagement for Il Malocchio, who broke her maiden on the Toronto oval’s Inner Turf last September, courtesy of a 2 ¾-length triumph in the Victorian Queen Stakes.
One race prior, she finished second in a seven-furlong race over the E.P. Taylor.
The Wonder Where has also attracted the ultra-consistent Emmeline, a dark bay daughter of Violence and one of the five maidens in the field. Trained by John Mattine for RCC Racing Stable Limited and Realm Racing Stables, the filly, bred in Ontario by the late Bill Graham, has four seconds and one third from seven career starts.
After back-to-back fourth-place results in her first two starts last August, Emmeline was third, at 57-1 in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes, to close out her rookie campaign.
Emmeline launched her sophomore season with the first of four straight seconds in a seven-furlong Tapeta race at Woodbine this June. Her runner-up finishes include the Woodbine Oaks and Bison City.
Mattine is hoping his hard-trying horse can break her maiden in style on Saturday.
“She’s in good order,” said the stakes-winning conditioner. “I think she raced well in all four of those races. I’m not disappointed in any of them. I thought her second race this year (July 10) where she just got nailed at the wire … it could have gone the other way, but you have to give credit to the other horse (Miss Marie, also entered in the Wonder Where) who won that day.”
The improving CIELO D’ORO, owned by Anderson Farms Ontario Inc. and Donald Ferguson, came in from California and was a good third in the Bison City Stakes. The daughter of Sky Mesa, bred by Anderson Farms, had been racing on grass on the west coast and has placed three times in seven turf outings.
FIELD FOR THE $250,000 WONDER WHERE STAKES
Race 9 Saturday, Woodbine, 1 1/4 miles, turf
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Tranquil Sky – Tony Maragh – Steve Owens
2 – Miss Marie – Shaun Bridgmohan – Breeda Hayes
3 – Munnyfor Ro – Justin Stein – Kevin Attard
4 – Il Malocchio – Patrick Husbands – Martin Drexler
5 – Bequia – Kazushi Kimura – Kevin Attard
6 – Youens – Jeffrey Alderson – Angus Buntain
7 – Cielo d’Oro – Antonio Gallardo – Catherine Day Phillips
8 – Pemberley – Daisuke Fukumoto – Mike Mattine
9 – Emmeline – Emma-Jayne Wilson – John Mattine
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