Bettors at Woodbine were scratching their heads as jockey FRASER AEBLY, just over a month removed from graduating from apprentice to journeyman, won the first two Woodbine stakes races of his career. Aebly, from Grand Prairie, Alberta, and rode at Hastings Racecourse in BC, guided Lou and Carlo Tucci’s ECSTASY (Paynter) to a 27-to-1 upset in the $127,500 Ontario Damsel Stakes on October 12. One race later he threaded the needle with 48-to-1 chance A GAME, an Ontario-bred by Distorted Humor, to win the $154,090 Ontario Fashion Stakes, a Grade 3.
The Ontario Damsel, a 1 1/16 mile race for three-year-old fillies on the Tapeta, was led in the batting by last year’s Champion two-year-old filly Witwatersrand, who won the Ruling Angel Stakes in May and was third in the Grade 3 Selene before a dull race on the turf on the Ontario Colleen (G3) led to a layoff since July.
Ecstasy, supplemented to this race for $2,500, had come to life this year since she won her maiden in June, winning two turf races. Her lone stakes attempt saw her finish 11th in the Ontario Colleen.
Trained by Sid Attard, Ecstasy pursued another longshot, invader Managing Mischief, early in the race through pace fractions of 24.27. 48.33 and 1:12.49. Witwatersrand and Patrick Husbands were some five lengths off the lead in mid-pack when Aebly moved Ecstasy to the lead inside the quarter pole.
Destiny Star tried to move also but stalled into the stretch while a host of fillies lined up five-wide off the turn trying to catch Ecstasy and Aebly. But they couldn’t and the pair won by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:43.37. Witwatersrand closed mildly to grab second by inches over Godolphin’s Pendulum, who came from far off the slow pace.
“She’s a real honest horse,” said Aebly. “She’s got quite the character, but she gives you everything she’s got when you’re running.
“She’s lovely. You can come off the pace with her, it doesn’t seem to matter distance-wise or surface.”
On his first Woodbine stakes win, Aebly said, “This is awesome, especially for Sid who has given me many opportunities.”
Bred by Martha Buckner in Kentucky, Ecstasy went through three sales: she was a $32,000 short yearling at the 2022 Keeneland January sale; a $24,000 yearling at Fasig-Tipton October that same year and then bought by Hidden Brook as agent last June at the Ocala Open Two-Year-Olds in Training sale for $32,000.
Ecstasy was placed once in three races last year before winning her maiden at seven furlongs in her third outing of this season. She is now four-for-10 with earnings of $188,742.
PEDIGREE NOTES: By the late Paynter (Awesome Again), Ecstasy is from the Northern Afleet mare Annihilation who was a stakes winner of five of 16 races and earner of $225,740. Annihilation is a half-sister to stakes winner Lemon Drop Gal.
Ecstasy is one of nine named foals for Annihilation and eight of them are winners including the mare’s two-year-old of this year, Essay.
One race later, Aebly and A Game blew up the tote board on the Grade 3 Ontario Fashion for three-year-olds and upward, fillies and mares, at 6 furlongs.
Easily the longest shot in the race, the Josie Carroll trainee, owned by Mark Dodson, had been a handy Ontario-bred through nine races since 2022 with three wins. She had never tried a stakes race and this was just her second race since last December following an optional claiming/allowance sprint win by a head in September.
The 46th Fashion set up somewhat oddly as one of the Mark Casse trainees, Star Candy, surprisingly went to the lead from the rail under jockey Sahin Civaci. Civaci, who would go on to win half of the day’s races (that’s five!), sent Star Candy to the front to duel with sharp invader Beauty of the Sea. They went the first two furlongs in a modest 23 seconds and favoured Ticker Tape Home was tracking third. A Game was about four lengths behind and ahead of just one rival, the troubled Swall who had broken slowly.
Turning for home, after a quicker middle fraction of 45.66, Beauty and the Sea was sneaking to the lead while some rivals went five, six and seven wide around the turn. Aebly and A Game were behind that wall of horses but saving ground. Ticker Tape Home moved up to challenge Beauty of the Sea as did Love to Shop, who looked like a winner but suddenly A Game split fillies and surprised everyone.
The final time was 1:09.49 and A Game, bred by the late Bill Graham in Caledon, paid $99.20 to win.
A Game was bought by Didson for $115,000 as a weanling five years ago at the Keeneland November sale. She is the first and only foal to race for her dam Caution Dreams who was unplaced in one race. Cautions Dreams, by Bernardini, is from the unraced mare Piedras Negras who produced 14 named foals, six winners, including Grade 3 winner La Traviata.
Aebly is currently sixth and moving up the Woodbine rider ranks. Civaci is far ahead with 114 wins.
LEADING WOODBINE JOCKEYS – BY WINS
Rank – Jockey – Starts – 1st – 2nd – 3rd – Earnings – Win %
1. Sahin Civaci – 440 – 114 – 77 – 64 – $4,761,994 – 26%
2. Rafael Manuel Hernandez – 440 – 85 – 81 – 56 – $4,372,362 – 19%
3. Sofia Vives – 399 – 57 – 53 – 43 – $2,726,958 – 14%
4. Pietro Moran – 347 – 55 – 51 – 50 – $2,146,794 – 16%
5. Emma-Jayne Wilson – 416 – 52 – 51 – 55 – $2,104,932 – 13%
6. Fraser Aebly – 442 – 51 – 58 – 43 – $1,896,515 – 12%
7. Patrick Husbands – 182 – 45 – 30 – 22 – $3,134,530 – 25%
8. Kazushi Kimura – 269 – 40 – 41 – 43 – $2,315,415 – 15%
9. Ryan Munger – 262 – 33 – 30 – 30 – $1,588,514 – 13%
10. Jose Luis Campos – 367 – 30 – 39 – 40 – $1,544,285 – 8%
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