Secret Message came flying late to reel in runaway leader Starship Jubilee down the stretch in Sunday’s one-mile Grade 2 Nassau Stakes, the first turf stakes of the 2019 Woodbine meet.
Fresh off a late-closing victory in the Dahlia Stakes over one-mile of turf at Laurel Park last month, Woodbine newcomer Secret Message defeated Canada’s reigning Champion Turf Female by three-quarters of a length in 1:35.30 over yielding turf with jockey Trevor McCarthy aboard for trainer Graham Motion.
The $175,000 Nassau Stakes, featuring older fillies and mares, is the first leg of Woodbine’s new “Ladies of the Lawn” bonus stakes series on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.