Saturday Woodbine: Painting a Masterpiece in Grade 3 Ontario Fashion

She has one of the deepest, richest pedigrees in all of racing and on Saturday, September 26, PAINTING got her coveted graded stakes win with a last-to-first rush to grab the Grade 3 Ontario Fashion Stakes at 6 furlongs at Woodbine.

By Distorted Humor from multiple stakes winner Handpainted by A.P. Indy., Painting reeled in Victory Kingdom (Aus) to win for the 3rd time in her career and the first time this year after three consecutive second-place finishes in graded stakes races. Owned and bred by John Sikura and brother Glenn of Hill ‘n” Dale Equine Holdings and Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm respectively, the 4-year-old is trained by Josie Carroll who continues her roll of 2020. Patrick Husbands rode.

“She’s been overdue for a win,” said Carroll, who won her 3rd Queen’s Plate this year with Mighty Heart. “Luck has not broke her way but she went into this race as good as a horse could go in.”

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Painting’s dam, Handpainted, is a multiple stakes winner and sister of Champion mare Serenading. Her dam, Daijin, a stakes winner by Deputy Minster, is from the blue hen mare Passing Mood, dam of Triple Crown winner With Approval among others. Painting is a Kentucky-bred also owned by Windsor Boys Racing.

It was a big race also for the Ontario-sired gal Sav, a daughter of Big Screen who picked up her first graded stakes placing by being third for owner Steve Duffield. Sav was bred by Spring Farm which stands Big Screen (Speightstown).

It was a shrewd move by the owners and Carroll to keep Painting in the Ontario Fashion as she was cross-entered in the day’s co-featured Belle Mahone Stakes worth $100,000. They scratched the filly from the 1 1/16 mile ungraded race since she had been second twice in a row to Live Oak Plantation’s SOUPER ESCAPE, who looked unbeatable in the Belle Mahone.

But sprint champion SUMMER SUNDAY had something to say about that as the 5-year-old mare, trying the route distance for the first time, led all the way and won by half a length under Rafael Hernandez in 1:44.08.

The daughter of Silent Name (Jpn) – Dancing Allstar by Millennium Allstar, was a CTHS yearling purchase for $85,000 and she now has 9 wins in 15 races and over $621,000 (US). She was bred by Brian McClay’s Trinity West Stable (for more on Summer Sunday go here.

“Owner Bill Scott and myself have a good rapport. We’ve wanted to [stretch her out in distance] for a long time and the situation never presented itself,” said Simon. “Finally we decided to try it. When she has run well she has always galloped out and showed everything that she wanted to run long.”

“She’s a champion and has the heart of a champion.”

Art of Almost, owned by Fred Seitz, Jon Kelly and Danny Ward and Ted Folkerth, grabbed second from Souper Escape, who was not able to quicken to the lead on this day.

More Saturday

KAZUSHI KIMURA was off his mounts again after getting banged up in a spill on Thursday.

Mike Chretien’s homebred filly STOKES won race 1 on the turf for $40,000 claiming and it was her 3rd career win in 16 races. The Street Boss gal is trained by Dan Vella has done well for Chretien after he bought her back from the local yearling sale for $12,000. She has earned over $105,00 US.

Pedigree buffs and racing fans were all abuzz with race 5, a maiden allowance for 2-year-old fillies at 7 furlongs as the race had a half-sister to champion American horse Arrogate, a full sister to fancy 3-year-old of this year Shirl’s Speight, and a Curlin gal.

It was the latter, SOUPER SENSATIONAL, who was bought for a whopping $725,000 as a yearling by Live Oak Plantation, that sped away for her debut win, scoring by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:23 4/5 over Speightstown Shirl, the Charles Fipke sister to Shirl’s Speight. It was another 9 3/4 lengths back to Arrogate’s half sister, the $750,000 weanling Diamond Ore, by Tapit.

Patrick Husbands rode and he had 4 wins on the day.

This was one of 3 wins by trainer Mark Casse’s team on the day.

The Casse team no doubt felt relieved when $875,000 purchase FEELING FUNNY finally found a way to win her maiden in race 7 in her 7th career race. The American Pharoah filly won by 5 lengths in the 6 furlong turf dash in 1:08.33.

The fastest race of the day was won by a Casse trainee that cost ‘just’ $80,000. ROMAN D’ORO won a 6 furlong turf dash in 1:07.79 for Gary Barber.

And getting back into the winner’s circle at Woodbine was Verne and Donna Dubinsky, who raced Queen’s Plate winner Inglorious and stars such as Careless Jewel. The Dubinsky’s Donver Stable has been out of racing (not breeding) for a few years but won a maiden 2-year-old filly race with its homebred DEJAS TOO, co-bred and owned by Josie Carroll.

The 2-year-old by first year sire Ami’s Holiday won the 7 1/2 furlong turf maiden race in just her second career race and she is from the mare Unforgettable Too (You and I), who was stakes-placed in Alberta for the Dubinskys. The mare has 8 other winners.