The final legs of the ONTARIO SIRE HERITAGE SERIES take place on Friday, November 10 at Woodbine with the 1 1/16 mile $100,000 Lake Ontario Stakes for three-year-old colts and geldings and the $100,000 Asbridges Bay Stakes for three-year-old fillies.
The top six finishers in each stakes event receive points and the top three points leaders at the end of the series will receive bonuses.
The winner of the fillies division by total points has already been determined as FOOLISH GAMES has 22 points and the entrants in the Ashbridges Bay cannot accrue enough points to go ahead of that filly.
But Ashbridges Bay entrants FASHIONABLY FAB (10 points) SOUPER SINCLAIR (9 points), can get second or third on the final standings with a top-four finish.
The favourite in the Ashbridges Bay will be Wonder Where stakes winner TITO’S CALLING, a daughter of Society’s Chairman who has not run in any of the Heritage Series races. Tito’s Calling , trained by Mike DePaulo for Zilli Racing Stables, was second in the Bison City Stakes and third in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes.
On the colts’ side, the brilliant sprinter PATCHES O’HOULIHAN is leading by points at 20 based on two wins in the series. However, Frank DiGiulio’s star is not in the Lake Ontario Stakes and that leaves the door open for POULIN IN OT to take over first place with a 4th place finish or better.
(*Note – the disqualification of One Bay Hemingway and One More Brew is currently under appeal. If overturned, the points from the Lake Erie would be re-assigned)
Poulin in O T was placed first in the Lake Erie stakes on Sept. 12 at Fort Erie even though he was third beaten 5 1/2 lengths. It was determined that the top two finishers in that race, One Bay Hemingway and One More Brew, carried the wrong weight in the stakes race and they were disqualified. Neither horse is in the Lake Ontario.
COLTS/GELDINGS DIVISION POINTS (*based on DQ in Lake Erie Stakes)
PATCHES O’HOULIHAN – 20
POULIN IN O T – 18
ONE BAY HEMINGWAY – 9
SILENT RESERVE – 7
GUNS N’ ROJAS – 7
SOONER LUNAR – 5
DON’T STOP DREAMIN – 5
KINETIC STONE – 3
WALTER ME LAD – 3
ABSOLUTE CHAIRMAN – 2
ONE MORE BREW – 1
FILLIES DIVISION POINTS
FOOLISH GAMES – 22
SOUPER SUNDAY – 11
ANAM CARA – 10
FASHIONABLY FAB – 10
FLOWERS N’ BERRIES – 10
SOUPER SINCLAIR – 9
HOT CARGO – 7
CARA CARA – 3
VERI GIZMO – 2