The victory by Sue Leslie’s DUCKDUCKDUCK in the November 23 Clarendon Stakes at Woodbine not only lit up the board as the gelding was 36-to-1, but his manner of winning was rare for the day.
Outrun early under Emma-Jayne Wilson, Duckduckduck put in a strong rally to fly by rivals in the stretch and win the 6-furlong race for Ontario-bred juveniles by 2 1/2 lengths in 1:12.12. Trained by Evette Chartrand-Hoek, Duckduckduck had a fast pace to run at, but speed and inside horses have dominated races at Woodbine, in particular in the last five weeks. Sunday’s strong winds also helped speed, as did the very difficult Tapeta kickback.
But Duckduckduck, who won his maiden in a $40,000 claiming optional event (did not race for the tag) last time, bucked the trend. Virtually every horse on the Sunday card won the pace along the inside.
“He wanted to go, but the awareness and his focus was just brilliant,” said Wilson. “I mean, the kickback was a bit hard, so we went a little wider, and he handled everything brilliantly. And when I asked him for everything, he did, he just put it all out there. I was impressed.”
Duckduckduck showed promise right off the bat in August when second in his debut. He finished fifth in the Simcoe Stakes second time out and went on a short break. He won his maiden on November 1 despite stumbling at the start.
Reload Raleigh (Reload), winner of the Frost King Stakes in his most recent start, was leading late and landed second for owner Kevin Drew, and Big Time Boss, owned by Di Scola Boys, finished third.
The was the second stakes win for Leslie, president of the HBPA Ontario, this year as her Friendly Ghost, also trained by Chartrand-Hoek, won the Elgin Stakes in the summer. Leslie bought Duckduckduck, by Canada’s 23-year-old sire SILENT NAME (Jpn) for $57,000 from breeder Kingview Farm, Richard Day, from last year’s CTHS Ontario sale. The bay is from the Philanthropist mare PEGGY O, who was stakes-placed and a six-time winner of $234,000.
Peggy O is a half-sister to stakes winner and multiple stakes-placed Bear’s Gem, a producer of winners, and seven other winners. Peggy O’s first three foals to race include winner Blackdiamond Dinny.
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One of the smartest rides of the Sunday card at Woodbine came from Jalon Samuel in the 11th race. On board 26-to-1 longshot DILWAALA for Rakesh and Kumud Sikand and trainer Steve Attard, Samuel gunned the Heart to Heart gelding to the lead, moved to the rail and guided the three-year-old to a maiden win for $7,500 claiming. Dilwaala had had 11 previous races and never hit the top three.
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ESWAN FLORES won three races on the card with speedsters RARIFIED and ARTEMUS CITY LIMITS for trainer Dales Desruisseaux and Martin Drexler, respectively. The third winner was first time starter YUKON STRIKER, a son of high-percentage debut sire MacLean’s Music, who was well prepared for his debut by Drexler. Owned by Elliott Logan’s T.E.C. Racing, Yukon Striker had a messy start and then had to alter course due to a fallen rival on the turn and he went on to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:05.42.
Yukon Striker, bought for $40,000, was one of four yearling purchases by Robyn Lewis, agent for Jim Ensom from the CTHS Ontario sale last year. Yukon Striker is from the Stormy Atlantic mare Thee Pie, whose second dam is the great NORTHERNETTE (Canadian Oaks, champion) and daughter of the blue hen mare SOUTH OCEAN (STORM BIRD, OCEAN’S ANSWER, etc).
The second dam of Yukon Striker is Limbo, who was a 1996 foal for Northernette. Limbo has had eight winning foals including stakes winners Back Forty and Gentleman Chester. Thee Pie did not race and she was bought by Ontario breeders Christine and Jay Hayden for $35,000 in foal to Mitole in 2022. That foal, Baccaro Point, has yet to race.
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Yukon Striker’s maiden win was marred by the fatal breakdown of BOBCAYGEON, a son of Caravaggio making his second career start for trainer John Mattine. Jockey Austin Adams was tossed to the ground and appeared to somehow avoid serious injury from a rival horse ridden by Dane Nelson. Nelson also ended up falling, but both riders were reportedly okay.
In race 1, the winner, SMOKE MCLEOD, a two-year-old, was vanned off without returning to the winner’s circle for owner Ron Braley. There was no information on his status.
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