One race earlier, Speedy Soul had to settle for the bronze. In Sunday’s $225,000 Bison City Stakes at Woodbine, she was as good as gold.
The mile and one-sixteenth Bison City, second leg of the Triple Tiara for Canadian-foaled three-year-old fillies, was absent of Desert Ride, who won the Woodbine Oaks presented by Budweiser on June 8 and then contested the 160h running of the Queen’s Plate yesterday, finishing fifth to One Bad Boy.
Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Speedy Soul came into to the Bison City, her fifth straight stakes engagement, off a third-place effort as the mutuel favourite in the Woodbine Oaks.
On this day, the dark bay didn’t go off as the favourite, but looked every bit the part in victory.
Bold Script, runner-up in the Oaks, and Intanga Rose, fourth in the Oaks, tangled on the front end early, as the duo took their five rivals through splits of :24.90 and :49.47, while Speedy Soul, under a confident Patrick Husbands, kept the pacesetters in her sights.
As the field turned for home, Bold Script and Intanga Rose continued their tete-a-tete, but they proved no match for Speedy Soul, who easily glided by her rivals en route to an authoritative 3 ¼-length score.
The final time over the Tapeta was 1:44.51.
“She wants to run all day,” said Husbands of the filly bred and owned by Joey Gee Thoroughbreds. “Last time when I rode her, the first quarter, I couldn’t get her to relax. I begged Mark and Joey, ‘Can you please take the blinkers off?’ Today, from the time she left the gate, she was relaxed.”
Casse, who was in Toronto to watch his two trainees, Federal Law and Skywire, contest Saturday’s $1 million Queen’s Plate, praised the effort of Speedy Soul.
“She’s getting a little better each time. As Patrick said… he actually wanted the blinkers on at the beginning, then once we stretched her out, we thought she was maybe a little too eager, but she ran extremely well today. We’re proud of her.”
It was the third added-money title for the daughter of Souper Speedy, who won last year’s Muskoka Stakes and this year’s Fury Stakes.
For Casse, it was his fifth Bison City crown and third consecutive score.
He also won in 2006 with Kimchi, 2007 with Sealy Hill, 2017 with Enstone and 2018 with Safe to Say.
Husbands was also celebrating his fifth Bison City triumph (2004 with Touchnow, Kimchi, Sealy Hill, Enstone and Speedy Soul).
The third and final leg in the series is the $225,000 Wonder Where Stakes, at one mile and one-quarter on the turf, on August 10.
Speedy Soul returned $7, $2.90 and $2.30, combining with Bold Script ($2.60, $2.10) for a $13.70 (6-1) exactor. A 6-1-5 (Intanga Rose, $2.60 to show) triactor paid $35.40, while a $1 superfecta [6-1-5-3 (Canadian Magic)] was worth $53.50.
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