There is no doubt who is the best 3-year-old racing in Ontario this year is after Global Access sped to a track record in the Grade 3 Ontario Derby at Woodbine on Saturday. Ridden brilliantly by Patrick Husbands, whose 17 stakes wins at Woodbine leads all riders, GLOBAL ACCESS pulled away from his rivals in the stretch and won by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:48.24 on the Tapeta.
The Michael Trombetta trainee eclipsed the 1:48.30 record established by Amis Gizmo in the Ontario Derby three years ago during his 2016 Sovereign Award-winning campaign.
In comparison, race 3 on Saturday’s card was the Grade 3 Durham Cup for older horses won by THE GREAT DAY (Arg) and he traveled the same distance in 1:49.68.
Global Access is owned and was bred by Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Stud in Florida. He is a son of Giant’s Causeway and from the German-bred mare Daveron, a daughter of Black Sam Bellamy (Ire).
Daveron, a stakes winner in Germany, won the Ballston Spa at Saratoga. She was purchased by Live Oak for $750,000 as a broodmare in 2011. She is also the dam of the Woodbine stakes winner March to the Arch who has gone on to good things in the US.
In the Ontario Derby, it was Avie’s Flatter, a prominent player throughout the OLG Canadian Triple Crown, who was made the 6-5 favourite. He took the lead early for top rider Eurico Rosa Da Silva with 2-1 second choice Global Access and Husbands pressuring the popular pacesetter through fractions of :24.67, :48.53 and 1:12.07. Global Access powered alongside Avie’s Flatter in the turn and overtook that foe en route to the 1 1/4-length victory.
“We took the blinkers off of him and he’s a different horse on the [synthetic],” said Husbands. “Eurico had a class horse and I’m not going to let him get things his way. My horse carried 124 pounds, I’m not scared of that, to me he looked like the best horse so I kept pressuring the whole way and when he answered, he gave me everything.”
The victory was the chestnut colt’s third Grade 3 score having captured the Marine Stakes over 1-1/16 miles on the Tapeta this spring and Saratoga’s Saranac Stakes over the same distance on turf last time out on August 31. Global Access has finished no worse than third in his last eight starts, winning half of those races.
DURHAM CUP (G3); Invader THE GREAT DAY (Arg) a multiple Group 1 winner in his own country, was in Maryland, Chicago and then California for Lael Stables and trainer Arnand Delacour. He was second in the Grade 2 Arlington Handicap during those long journeys and then was in Toronto this weekend. In his Tapeta debut he set a very slow pace under Patrick Husbands and then won a head bob with favoured Special Forces at the wire.
The winner is a Harlan’s Holiday stallion who is now 5 for 15 in his career.
KK makes a run at Rider’s title: Kazushi Kimura won his 200th career race in Ontario on Saturday with
Tony Gattellaro’s DESERT POEM on the inner turf course. Kimura is just 6 wins out of 2nd place in the rider’s standings and 12 from leader Eurico da Silva in what surely is a huge season for any apprentice in North America.
Kimura, who rides the inner turf course like he owns it, has impressed early in his career although he is still a learning apprentice. He will be serving a three-day suspension shortly for an infraction Sept. 25 in which he angled his mount out sharply.
More from Woodbine weekend:
SEE FOREVER was an impressive debut winner on the grass for trainer Mike Keogh and the Estate of Gustav Schickedanz on Saturday. The grey gelding by Langfuhr – Megavista by Megas Vukefalos is a half brother to turf stakes winner Shake Down Baby and stakes placed Megagray. David Moran rode the 2-year-old and the time for 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.40.
MERVEILLEUX won a 1 mil and 70 yard maiden allowance for 2-year-old fillies with style for Bill and Al Ulwelling. Making her third career start, the long striding Paynter filly out of Breech Inlet by Holy Bull was bred by Mike Carroll. She is trained by Kevin Attard.
The Ontario stallion TURFISTE, a Fair Grounds stakes winner, sired his ‘Fuerst’ winner when ROYAL FUERST won race 1 on Saturday. Bred by Adolf Gust and owned by Bellwoods Farm, Royal Fuerst had a major form reversal off the two-month layoff in his first start for trainer Norm Mcknight as he led all the way to win the $9,500 claiming race.
Turfiste stands at John and Melanie Ryan’s JohnMel Stables in Puslinch.
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