Graded stakes winner Dixie Law chases more stakes success, this time in Saturday’s $125,000 Ontario Damsel at Woodbine.
Six three-year-old fillies will travel 1 1/16 miles over the main track, including the daughter of Tiz the Law out of the Union Rags mare Bit of Dixie, who arrives at her 10th consecutive stakes affair off a brave neck win in the Wonder Where Stakes, the third jewel of the Canadian Triple Tiara, on Sept. 6.
Challenged late in the 1 ¼-mile event run over the E.P. Taylor turf, Dixie Law, who was a half-length on top at the stretch call, dug in to eke out the victory in a time of 2:04.01 over a “good” course.
“Prestige-wise, winning a Triple Tiara race meant a lot,” said trainer Dale Desruisseaux. “It is probably her best race. It might not be her best performance, data-wise, but she showed what type of talent she has and just how consistent a filly she is.”
The narrow margin of victory didn’t come as a surprise to Desruisseaux. “She is the kind of horse who I don’t think will ever win by open lengths. She tends to wait on horses, even in the morning. She will pass a horse and then just start to idle. Halfway down the lane, Pietro (jockey Moran) said she got to idling a little bit, and when she felt the other horse coming, she kicked back in.”
It was the latest triumph for the bay filly, whose résumé includes victories in last year’s editions of the Cup and Saucer Stakes and Mazarine Stakes (G3), a season in which Dixie Law was a finalist for the 2025 Sovereign Award in the Champion Two-Year-Old Female category.
A homebred for Garland Williamson’s Hillsbrook Farms, Dixie Law debuted last July and posted a 1 ½-length triumph in a six-furlong race over the E.P. Taylor turf. Next time out, in her first stakes appearance the Natalma (G1T), she was sixth at 48-1, only 2 ½-lengths behind the winner, in the one-mile inner turf fixture for two-year-olds.
Dixie Law notched her first stakes victory in the $250,000 Cup and Saucer, a 1 1/16-mile inner turf feature for two-year-olds foaled in Canada and followed it up with a win in the Mazarine (G3) on Nov. 2. She completed her two-year-old campaign with a fourth in the Coronation Futurity, at 1 1/8 miles over the Woodbine main track on Nov. 29. “She very rarely puts in a bad performance and if that does happen, there’s usually a reason for it,” said Desruisseaux. “She is just a true athlete and wants to be a racehorse.”
Dixie Law made her three-year-old debut a winning one, taking the Ruling Angel Stakes, a seven-furlong main track test for three-year-old fillies, by a nose in 1:22.58.
She was third in the Selene Stakes, second in the Woodbine Oaks, then fourth in The King’s Plate, one race before her Wonder Where win. Dixie Law arrives at the Ontario Damsel with a 5-1-1 mark from 10 starts, along with $598,557 in purse earnings. Kyle MacDonald is the groom.
Recent works: Dixie Law worked five furlongs over the main track in a bullet :59.00 on Sept. 30.
“It was a little faster than I wanted,” said Desruisseaux. “I talked to Pietro before the work, and we discussed how she has gone through the Triple Tiara series, plus the Plate, so fitness-wise, I wasn’t too worried about her. We planned a maintenance breeze. If you watch her, you would say that she didn’t go that fast. I told Pietro the time after he came off, and he said, ‘No way.’ He said she was just cruising. She galloped out in 1:11, came back to the barn, took a couple of deep breaths, and recovered from it. It didn’t seem to take anything out of her.”
Fast facts: Kevin Attard has won four editions of the Ontario Damsel, including three straight victories from 2019-21. Dancing With Wings, a homebred for Sam-Son Farm, won the inaugural running in 1991 by 1 ½ lengths, with Sandy Hawley aboard.
Wagering menu for the Ontario Damsel: Includes Rolling Double / Exacta / 0.20 Trifecta / .20 Superfecta / 0.20 Pick 3 (Races 9-10-11) / $1 Swinger.
Field for the Ontario Damsel
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Raiding Party (IRE) – Ryan Munger – Brendan Walsh
2 – Ontology – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Kevin Attard
3 – Hot Mash – Sahin Civaci – John Servis
4 – Bold Time – Fraser Aebly – Josie Carroll
5 – Cool Times – Jose Campos – Katerina Vassilieva
6 – Dixie Law – Pietro Moran – Dale Desruisseaux
My Covenant and jockey Pietro Moran winning Race 6 on August 21, 2026 at Woodbine. (Michael Burns Photo)
Also on Saturday, five three-year-olds will travel 6 ½ furlongs on the main track in the $125,000 Sophomore Stakes.
My Covenant, a son of Souper Speedy out of the Old Forester mare Dilly Dally Darby, chases his second straight stakes score after a seven-length victory in the Lake Erie Stakes at Fort Erie on Sept. 7.
Sent off as the 2-1 choice in the 6 ½-furlong main track sprint, My Covenant set the pace before sprinting away from his rivals down the lane for the emphatic victory.
“The fact that he took so well to the dirt at a new track was very impressive,” said trainer Audrey Cheung. “He shipped the morning of the race, and he was comfortable doing everything at a new place. It really shows how mature he’s become in this past year, which has been great to see.”
Claimed for $25,000 last October in his second start, a winning effort, My Covenant, now riding a two-race win streak, posted two wins, two seconds and two thirds over his next seven starts.
“His confidence is something we’ve really taken notice of,” said Cheung. “All of the sudden, he’s decided that he wants to go to the lead. The earlier starts this year and the ones near the end of last year, he tended to look like he was always coming off the pace and then running out of racetrack.
“We always thought, ‘Okay, let’s go a little longer.’ So, we would run him 6 ½ or seven furlongs – he just needs that little extra distance. Now, he breaks sharp, his on the lead with his ears up and just drives on with it. If he likes that new running style, that is fine with us.”
My Covenant breezed four furlongs in :48.80 over the main track on Oct. 3. “Pietro (jockey, Moran) breezed him and said that when he reaches his cruising speed, he’s so comfortable and just feels great,” said Cheung.
Bred by Tucci Holdings, the gelding, 3-2-3 ($133,977) from nine lifetime starts, is owned by Mad Dog Racing Stables LLC and Mike Robitaille. Nigel Burke is the groom.
Wagering menu for the Sophomore Stakes: Includes Rolling Double / Exacta / 0.20 Trifecta / 0.20 Superfecta / 0.20 Pick 3 (Races 3-4-5) / $1 Swinger.
Field for the Sophomore Stakes
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Highwaytothemoon – Jose Campos – Dale Desruisseaux
2 – Meilani – Luis Reyes – Kevin Attard
3 – My Covenant – Pietro Moran – Audrey Cheung
4 – Z Z’s (S) – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Josie Carroll
5 – Reb Five – Fraser Aebly – Mark Casse
More News
