Horse racing in Canada, the maple leaf, and hockey. They all go together nicely in the history of the Thoroughbred sport in this country.
The MAPLE LEAF STAKES is ultra-Canadian and it will be run for the 128th time on Saturday, November 13, at Woodbine. On Sunday the famous Autumn Stakes will be run for the 120th time.
Canadian horse racing aficionados will no doubt think of the blue maple leaf that adorned the silks of CONN SMYTHE, who built Maple Leaf Gardens, was a longtime owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a horse fanatic who raced three Queen’s Plate winners and won 145 stakes with his horses.
Smythe also won the Maple Leaf stakes seven times, six with horses trained by Donnie Walker. Not Too Shy, Lovely Sunrise, and Bye Bye Paris each won the Maple Leaf twice.
The Maple Leaf, at 1 1/4 miles on Tapeta, is also a race that produces super mares who go on to successful careers as broodmares.
Starters in this year’s race include the Mark Casse-trained foursome of Art of Almost, Broadway Lady, Crystal Glacier and Skygaze.
Art of Almost was second in the race last year and comes off a win in the Grade 3 Ontario Matron Stakes. She beat Skygaze that day but Skygaze was very washy before that race and had a wide trip behind a slow pace in a tough trip.
Canadian star MERVEILLUEX, coming off a disastrous outing over the boggy grass in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes, seeks her first win of 2021 and she likes the 10-furlong distance.
Graham Motion will send out Sister Otoole, a four-year-old Florida-bred daughter of Amira’s Prince (IRE), who sports a 2-3-3 record from 10 starts.
One of the favourites will be LA LUNE (GB), trained by Edward Vaughan, a Group 3 winner from England who just missed in her North American debut at Kentucky Downs and then was one-paced when sixth in the Grade 3 Dowager at 5-to-2 at Keeneland. She adds Lasix.
And LAKE LUCERNE, a Godolphin filly trained by Brendan Walk, is an all weather track winner over the season at 10 furlongs and is by the great stallion Dubawai who sired three Breeders’ Cup winners this year.
The Grade 2 Bessarabian at seven furlongs has a good field and OUR SPECIAL AGENT looks ready to take down another graded stakes win for Gary Barber.
Juxtapose, a four-year-old daughter of Verrazano-Aldara, goes after her first added-money win in Saturday’s Grade 2 $175,000 Bessarabian Stakes, at Woodbine.
Conditioner Josie Carroll has won three runnings of the Bessarabian, including in 2017 and 2018, both with Moonlit Promise. She also won with Smart Surprise in 2008 and sends out Gidgetta this year.
The race is named after Canada’s champion older female of 1986, a multiple stakes-winning daughter of Vice Regent trained by Michael Doyle and owned by Eaton Hall Farm. She finished her racing career with an 18-5-4 mark from 37 starts.
The Bessarabian is carded as race eight on Saturday’s 11-race program. The Maple Leaf goes as race seven. First post is 12:55 p.m. Fans can also watch and wager on all the action through HPIbet.com and the Dark Horse Bets app.
FIELD FOR THE BESSARABIAN
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Gidgetta – Patrick Husbands – Josie Carroll
2 – La Libertee – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
3 – Spun Glass – Luis Contreras – Michael Trombetta
4 – Lady Speightspeare (S) – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Roger Attfield
5 – Aug Lutes – Antonio Gallardo – Michael Trombetta
6 – Juxtapose – Gary Boulanger – Steve Owens
7 – Our Secret Agent – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse
8 – Emmeline – Justin Stein – John Mattine
9 – Tuned (GB) – Daisuke Fukumoto – Graham Motion
FIELD FOR THE MAPLE LEAF
1 – Merveilleux – Justin Stein – Kevin Attard
2 – Art of Almost – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse
3 – Skygaze – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
4 – Sister Otoole – Kazushi Kimura – Graham Motion
5 – La Lune (GB) – David Moran – Edward Vaughan
6 – Peace Seeker – Antonio Gallardo – Nick Nosowenko
7 – Broadway Lady – Shaun Bridgmohan – Mark Casse
8 – Ann of Cleves – Keveh Nicholls – John LeBlanc Jr.
9 – Crystal Glacier – Gary Boulanger – Mark Casse
10 – Lake Lucerne – Rafael Hernandez – Brendan Walsh
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