Amalfi Sky, bred and owned by Terra Racing, goes after her third straight score when she goes postward in the $100,000 Zadracarta Stakes, Friday at Woodbine.
Trained by Kevin Attard, the 3-year-old daughter of Sky Mesa-Include Katherine faces eight rivals in the 5-furlong Inner Turf feature slated as race six of eight.
Amalfi Sky heads into the Zadracarta, for Ontario-bred fillies and mares, 3-year-olds & up, on a two-race win streak, including her most recent victory on August 19 at Woodbine.
Under Antonio Gallardo, aboard once again on Friday, the chestnut found a seam in the stretch drive and powered home a 1 ¾-length winner in the 5-furlong Inner Turf dash.
That effort followed a maiden-breaking score in a 5 ½-furlong main track performance on July 22, one that saw Amalfi Sky gut out a nose win in a time of 1:04.76.
“We were looking forward to getting on her the turf,” said Attard. “It was nice to see her take to it so well. I thought her most recent race was a little bit more impressive. She sat off the pace, came with a good run and was pretty impressive. She won in hand.”
Amalfi Sky began her career last August in a 5-furlong test over the Toronto oval Tapeta, rallying late between foes to net fourth place in what was to be the only start of her 2-year-old campaign.
She launched her sophomore season on June 19, leading her rivals at the top of the stretch in a 7-furlong main track race before fading to finish tenth.
“I was a little disappointed in her first run of the year,” admitted Attard. “We were happy with her 2-year-old start. She had a little setback after and we had to give her the year off. She trained really well in the spring and we were expecting a good race first time out, but she just showed a lot of speed and stopped. We regrouped, cut her back in distance and she put it all together.”
Attard, who has 541 career wins, including 65 stakes, is hopeful of a repeat performance as Amalfi Sky chases the natural hat trick in her first stakes engagement.
“She’s very versatile. If she breaks running, that’s fine. If there is speed in the race and we look like we need to sit off it, that’s fine too. It’s just nice to have those options. It will be in his [Gallardo’s] hands. Hopefully, we get a little racing luck and have another big effort.”
Attard won the 2015 Zadracarta with Surtsey, a chestnut daughter of Heatseeker (IRE).
First post time for Friday is 4:50 p.m. Fans can also watch and wager on all the action via HPIbet.com, or tune-in to Racing Night Live, airing from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET on TSN.
Stakes action continues Saturday at Woodbine, with the running of the Grade 3 Seagram Cup, and Vice Regent. On Sunday, the Toronto Cup and Belle Mahone are the co-headliners.
Field For The $100,000 Zadracarta
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Spanish Ballerina – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Frank Huarte
2 – Amalfi Sky – Antonio Gallardo – Kevin Attard
3 – She’s a Dream – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll
4 – Sav – Kazushi Kimura – Norm McKnight
5 – Sterling Speed – Justin Stein – Ashlee Brnjas
6 – Hell N Wild – Simon Husbands – Lorne Richards
7 – Millennium Force – Shaun Bridgmohan – Martin Drexler
8 – Summer Sunday – Rafael Hernandez – Stuart Simon
9 – Fact Checking – Steve Bahen – Ian Howard
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