Trainer William Armata’s confidence in his trainee IRONSTONE (Mr. Speaker – Casey’s Dreamin’ by Unbridled’s Song)  paid off at Woodbine on October 23 when the steel-grey colt won his first stakes race of the year, and first graded stake, in the Ontario Derby (G3).

Sunday’s race card at Woodbine, held on a gloriously sunny afternoon, once again featured a very favourable rail path that led to many longshots winning.

Ironstone, an Ontario-bred 3-year-old who danced all of the sophomore dances this year with third-place finishes in the Grade 3 Marine, Queenston and Woodstock, a fourth in the Queen’s Plate, and a second in the Prince of Wales Stakes, bounded to a well-deserved victory in the 1 1/8 mile Derby.

Advertisement