Tiz Breathtaking headlines a field of a half-dozen two-year-old Canadian-bred fillies set to face off in the 73rd running of $225,000 Princess Elizabeth Stakes on Sunday at Woodbine Racetrack.
Trained by Michael Doyle for William Graham’s Windhaven Farms, Tiz Breathtaking boasts an impressive three-for-four record early in her career with her only defeat a neck loss in the My Dear Stakes this summer. Since then, she has won back-to-back stakes, taking the Shady Well on August 4 and the Grade 3 Mazarine on October 6 while stretching out to the 1-1/16-mile distance she will run again in Sunday’s main track feature. The homebred Tiznow-I’m Breathtaking filly, who is the 3-5 morning line favourite, will look to continue her stakes streak with Eurico Rosa Da Silva.
Jockey Rafael Hernandez, who reined home last year’s winner Clickity Clack, will partner with the other Windhaven Farms homebred in the field, Lady Azalea. The Mineshaft-Henry’s Island filly broke her maiden on August 1 over six furlongs of turf and more recently finished fourth when stretching out in her fifth career start in the Mazarine. Trainer Roger Attfield has won this race a record six times and as recently as 2016 courtesy of Chiefswood Stable’s 19-1 upset winner Ghostly Presence.
Currently tops in the Woodbine owner standings for the second year in a row, Chiefswood Stable will send out homebred Bold Script to try the Tapeta surface for the first time in a race. The grey Speightstown filly out of the stakes-winning mare Original Script defeated Lady Azalea by a neck in her career debut on July 14 and hit the board in her subsequent three turf stakes starts. She finished third in the Catch a Glimpse and Grade 1 Natalma and was runner-up behind colt Avie’s Flatter in the Cup and Saucer over 1-1/16 miles on October 7. Gary Boulanger gets the call again to ride the Stuart Simon trainee, who is the 5-2 second choice on the morning line.
Sam-Son Farm, the race’s leading owner, has campaigned six past Princess Elizabeth champions and will have Malibu Dawn in this year’s field. Trained by Graham Motion, the Malibu Moon-Coastal Dawn miss debuted at Del Mar in late August and won her first Woodbine appearance next time out on September 22 over 6-1/2 furlongs teaming up with Alan Garcia. Her second dam is the 2000 Princess Elizabeth champion Dancethruthedawn, who went on to earn Sovereign Award honours.
The field also includes Joey Gee Thoroughbreds’ homebred Flat Out Vixen, who earned her first victory in her fourth career start on October 3 over the same course and distance as the Princess Elizabeth. James Smith trains the Flat Out-Asheba filly, who will have Emma-Jayne Wilson aboard.
Hopefield Farm’s A Broken Breeze, a maiden Broken Vow-A Better Breeze filly trained by Alex ‘Sandy’ McPherson, completes the lineup with Kazushi Kimura listed to ride.
The Princess Elizabeth Stakes is scheduled at the sixth of 11 races on Sunday’s 1 p.m. program. Here is a look at the complete field in post position order:
$225,000 Princess Elizabeth Stakes
1. Malibu Dawn – Alan Garcia – Graham Motion
2. Lady Azalea – Rafael Hernandez – Roger Attfield
3. Tiz Breathtaking – Eurico Rosa Da Silva – Michael Doyle
4. Flat Out Vixen – Emma-Jayne Wilson – James Smith
5. Bold Script – Gary Boulanger – Stuart Simom
6. A Broken Breeze – Kazushi Kimura – Alex McPherson
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