Warming Scores in Dance Smartly
Maryland shipper Warming continued a scorching campaign across North America by capturing the bet365 Dance Smartly Stakes (Grade 2) Saturday at Woodbine.
The $200,000 race, named for Canada’s first Breeders’ Cup winner, drew a field of seven fillies and mares, three-year-olds and upward.
Surprisingly, it was Proctor Street and Eponine (IRE), the 1-2 off-the-pace finishers in the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes, who showed the way up front early. Proctor Street, who won that event at Woodbine on August 15th by a neck over Eponine (IRE), led the latter by a length through an opening quarter mile in :25.05, in the one and one sixteenth miles, turf route over an E.P. Taylor Turf Course listed as good.
Power of Destiny (GB), Ozara (IRE), Warming, Elysian Field and Pin Up Betty followed the top pair in that order through the first two panels.
Proctor Street, under Pietro Moran, continued to lead through a half-mile in :50.31 and carried that speed to the top of the lane in a six-furlong split of 1:14.21.
The Graham Motion-trained Warming, fresh off a last-to-first win in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Del Mar on August 8th, was enjoying an ideal ground-saving trip in fifth and began to rally up the fence.
Inside the quarter pole, Fraser Aebly steadily angled the white-blazed chestnut off the rail, with the tandem finding a seam in the four path and exploding by Proctor Street to score by a length and three quarters over a late rail-rallying Power of Destiny (GB). The mile time was 1:37.46; the final running time was 1:43.78.
Riding the four-year-old daughter of Global Campaign for the first time, Aebly was asked post-race if he was worried about a lack of early pace in the race.
“The way she was traveling for me down the backside, I wasn’t worried at all,” said Aebly, who helped improve Warming’s record to a perfect four-for-four at eight-and-a-half furlongs on turf. “She definitely has a very good turn of foot.”
“As soon as I asked her at the head of the lane, she kind of found a seam. She kicked very hard for me, it was very nice to see,” added Aebly.
Appearing at her sixth different racetrack in 2026, Warming added her second straight Grade 2 win, following the Yellow Ribbon triumph. Two starts prior, the Kentucky-bred won the Grade 3 Gallorette at Laurel Park. The Dance Smartly victory improved Warming’s record to 3-1-2 from six starts during her four-year-old campaign.
“She shipped up so well,” said Ian Wilson, Motion’s assistant trainer. “She’s gone all over the country. This is just another day, another business day for her.”
Bred in Kentucky by M. Auerbach, LLC and owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Warming (Global Campaign – Haute Style, by Unusual Heat) improved to 6-1-3 from 14 career starts, while earning automatic entry into the 2027 Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf Invitational Stakes (G2T), slated for January at Gulfstream Park.
Listed at 2-1 on the Woodbine morning line, Warming went off at 2.35-to-1 and returned $6.70 for the win. Power of Destiny (GB) was second, Proctor Street held for third, and Elysian Field completed the superfecta.
Victory Achieved and Rafael Hernandez winning the Grade 2 Nearctic. (Michael Burns Photo)
Victory Achieved makes light work of Nearctic field
Victory Achieved accomplished a pair of milestones in a flawless performance to win the Grade 2 Nearctic Stakes ($250,000), presented by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Saturday at Woodbine.
Ridden for the first time by Rafael Hernandez, the Mark Casse-trained five-year-old bay gelding settled kindly in fourth on the rail, as stablemate Essex Serpent led the field of seven through an opening two panel clocking of :22.48.
Western Whirl was a length behind in second, while 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Nobals raced outside in third. Isivunguvungu (SAF) chased in fifth with Works for Me on the rail in sixth. Gas Me Up, Canada’s reigning champion male turf horse and race favourite, tracked closely in seventh.
Approaching the midway point in the six-furlong E.P. Taylor Turf Course sprint for three-year-olds and up, Hernandez angled the Florida-bred Victory Achieved out for clear running and the son of Street Sense responded with vigor.
Through a half-mile in :45.49 over a course listed as ‘good,’ Hernandez had Victory Achieved in full flight in the 5 path and the tandem kicked on impressively to score by three lengths in a final time of 1:09.30.
“He showed a lot of speed, but I just played it by ear, see how everybody break,” said Hernandez. “Davey (Assistant trainer David Adams) said Raffy just let him break, be close from the speed and ‘do your thing,’ that’s what we did.”
Unraced at two, Victory Achieved broke his maiden in his second career start when debuting at Woodbine. Out of the War Front mare Lady of Victory, Victory Achieved completed a natural local hat trick, winning a pair of main track allowance sprints. As a four-year-old, the Florida-bred finished second in the Grade 3 Bold Venture.
“This is a horse we had high hopes on,” said Casse in a pre-race interview, while mentioning that a win by either of his entrants might result in trip to the Breeders’ Cup later this month at Keeneland.
“He’s kind of had an up-and-down career. He’s very good right now. We’ve been targeting this race (Nearctic) for a long time with him,” said Casse of Victory Achieved, who arrived back at Woodbine off a pair of runner-up finishes in stakes south of the border.
Bred in Florida by Live Oak Stud and owned by Live Oak Plantation, Victory Achieved did the double, notching his first career turf and graded stakes win, respectively. With the Nearctic win, Victory Achieved improved to 5-4-1 from 14 career starts.
Victory Achieved opened at 5-2 on the morning line, floated up to 5-1 and returned $13.20 for the win. Nobals was second, New York-bred Works for Me was third and pacesetter Essex Serpent finished fourth. Favoured Gas Me Up was fifth.
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