(edited press release)
Five hopefuls, including one of the leading three-year-olds in Canada, PATCHES O’HOULIHAN, vie for top prize in the $100,000 Lake Superior, to be contested at six furlongs over the E.P. Taylor turf on July 30 at Woodbine.
The Lake Superior and the Thunder Bay Stake, both run this Sunday, are part of the second leg of the Ontario Sire Heritage Series which take place on a marathon day of racing which has 14 races ending at 8 p.m.
Trained by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Robert Tiller for owner/breeder Frank Di Giulio, Jr., the homebred son of Reload-Maythefourthbwithu by Silent Name (Jpn), comes into his latest start off a sharp score in the Lake Huron Stakes, an Ontario Sire Heritage Series race contested at five furlongs on Woodbine’s inner turf course.
It was the fourth win from five starts for Patches O’Houlihan, whose first effort on grass came over the E.P. Taylor turf in last year’s seven-furlong Bull Page Stakes when he was sixth, one race after his victorious career bow on September 11.
Named after the character played by Rip Torn in the movie Dodgeball, Patches O’Houlihan will chase his fourth straight win on Sunday.
“We look like the best horse in there now, and he’s doing good,” started Tiller. “The day [May 21, in his three-year-old debut], when he won by nearly 11 lengths, that’s when we knew we had a good one in the barn. If you look at his Beyer figures and speed ratings, they are very good.”
“Patches, he’s like me, off and on. Happy, sad, crazy, and quiet… a little bit of everything. But he’s a very talented horse. I wouldn’t put him in the Pink Lloyd league just yet. He needs another 25 stakes races to catch him. But we’re happy to have this guy. He’s a talented horse.”
DiGuilio bought Patches O’Houlihan’s dam Maythefourthbwithu for about $4,000 at the 2021 CTHS yearling sale. She earned over $200,000 on the track. The mare, a half-sister to four other winners, has produced one other starter, six-time winner Five Days in May.
The Thunder Bay is led by SOUPER SUNDAY, a daughter of Souper Speedy.
Trained by Steve Owens, who co-bred with Beverly Lewis and co-owns with Empress Stables, Souper Sunday has won three straight races, including her most recent victory, the five-furlong Georgian Bay Stakes (also part of the Heritage Series), contested on the Woodbine inner grass course on July 8.
It was the first stakes crown for the daughter of Souper Speedy-Mrs. Donaghy.
“All the wins have been impressive,” said Owens. “She kept moving forward from that first win, which was her first start as a three-year-old. She just kept progressing and learning, getting better and stronger with each race. She’s moved forward and she’s a very happy filly.”
Making her debut last June, Souper Sunday recorded a pair of thirds in her first two starts, both sprints over the Woodbine Tapeta. After a ninth and sixth over the E.P. Taylor turf and the Tapeta, respectively, in August, she was third in a $15,000 claiming race at seven panels over the Tapeta in December and was then sent to the farm to reset for her sophomore campaign.
It was a game-changing move for the multiple graded stakes-winning trainer, who has watched the dark bay filly go undefeated in three starts in 2023.
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