Glen Hill Farm’s Marketing Mix rallied up the rail to capture Sunday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Dance Smartly Stakes at Woodbine.
The dark bay daughter of Medaglia d’Oro-Instant Thought, bred in Ontario by Sean Fitzhenry and trained by Tom Proctor, took an inside path through the stretch under jockey Julien Leparoux in the 1 1/8-mile turf tilt, stopping the clock in 1:48.02.
Moonlit Beauty led the field through an opening quarter in :24.19 and a half-mile in :47.43, as Lode Lady tracked in second along the fence, with Marketing Mix just to her outside.
2011 Queen’s Plate champion Inglorious was sent three-wide through the far turn to engage the front-runners, overtaking Moonlit Beauty near the top of the lane, but a determined Marketing Mix was steered to the inside by Leparoux and ridden out a length and three-quarter winner. Moment of Majesty rallied for place money, half a length in front of Inglorious.
Leparoux was impressed with his filly’s tenacity when encountering traffic trouble turning into the stretch.
“We got stopped coming to the straight and she just picked it up very nicely on this turf,” said Leparoux. “She wanted it, most importantly.”
It was the fifth graded victory over the E.P Taylor Turf Course for Leparoux, who previously captured the 2009 Grade 2 Nearctic Stakes with Field Commission; the 2011 Grade 2 Canadian Stakes with Never Retreat; the 2011 Woodbine Mile with Turallure; and this year’s Grade 2 Nassau with Marketing Mix.
Despite being stopped turning for home, Leparoux was content with his trip.
“I was happy where I was,” said Leparoux. “She was relaxed, and she was just waiting for me to make a move.”
With the victory, her fourth graded score, Marketing Mix improved her lifetime record to seven wins, two seconds and a third from 13 lifetime starts.
She returned $3.20, $2.50 and $2.10, combining with Moment of Majesty ($8.70, $3.60) for a $28.90 (7-6) exactor. A 7-6-2 (Inglorious, $2.70) triactor was worth $100.40. A $1 superfecta 7-6-2-1 (Indian Pond) returned $114.20.
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