Yearling Sales Stakes on the Slate Sunday at Woodbine

Rookie and sophomore Canadian Premier Yearling Sale graduates step into the limelight on Sunday afternoon at Woodbine for a quartet of stakes races totalling $600,000 in purse money.

The annual Canadian Sales Stakes precedes the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society’s yearling sale (sponsored by OLG), held on Wednesday, August 28 at 11:00 a.m. (ET) in the Woodbine Sales Pavilion.

“These are great stakes to be eligible for,” said trainer Gail Cox, who will send out Kokomo in the $200,000 Simcoe Stakes. “It is a very nice purse for a restricted stakes race and these races help promote the sale. We have to showcase our Ontario-bred horses, and this is an excellent way to do that.”

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The $150,000 Vice Regent Stakes, for Ontario-breds, 3-year-olds and up, is also part of Sunday’s 11-race card. Seven starters will travel five furlongs on the inner turf.

$200,000 SIMCOE STAKES

for 2-year-old colts & geldings, foaled in Canada. 6 ½ furlongs on the all-weather course. Race 9.

A win by Kokomo would be twice as nice for trainer and owner Gail Cox.

Bred in Ontario by Phoenix Rising Farms, Kokomo has been a model of consistency in his four starts to date, sporting a mark of 1-3-0.

“He’s doing very well,” said Cox. “He’s a very uncomplicated colt. He was in Florida with me over the winter and he trained with the fillies and couldn’t have cared less about that. He is a very easy-going type.”

The son of Flameaway-Island Fever debuted in May and finished second in a 4 ½-furlong sprint over the Woodbine all-weather track.

That effort was followed by a pair of runner-up performances, one at five furlongs on the all-weather in June and the other over six panels on the E.P. Taylor turf in July.

“He does show quite a bit of speed,” noted Cox. “But he is very gritty. I thought each one of those seconds were impressive.”

On August 4, Kokomo went one better to earn his first win, the neck victory coming at six furlongs over the Toronto oval’s all-weather track.

Cox was impressed by the gumption the rookie showed to break his maiden.

“The other horse had already gone by him and then he came back on. I thought it was just a great, determined effort on his part. He seems like he keeps running on. He doesn’t go to the front and then stop. He keeps digging in.”

Kokomo was a $65,000 (CDN) purchase at the 2023 CTHS Ontario Premier Yearling Sale.

“I like Flameaway. He is a very interesting early sire. I also have this horse’s full sister, Firecracker Fiona (also bred by Phoenix Rising Farms), in our barn. Kokomo, he stood out to me at the sale. He is quite good looking. I liked the conformation, the walk, and the sire.”

Diego Garcia is the groom.

Field for the Simcoe
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Kekoa – Rafael Hernandez – Catherine Day Phillips
2 – Charted Map – Jose Campos – Steven Chircop
3 – Kokomo – Sofia Vives – Gail Cox
4 – Scorching – Patrick Husbands – John Charalambous
5 – Awesome Rainbow – Sahin Civaci – Norm McKnight
6 – Lover Boy Mo – De-Sean Gaskin – Cleveland Gordon
7 – Tiernan – Fraser Aebly – Krista Cole
8 – Flirting With Fire – Ryan Munger – Gold Colbourne
9 – Carnew – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Stuart Simon
10 – Shadow Realm – Eswan Flores – Sid Attard
11 – Chasing Memories – David Moran – Amanda Cameron
12 – Magic Power – Justin Stein – John Mattine

$200,000 MUSKOKA STAKES

for 2-year-old fillies, foaled in Canada. 6 ½ furlongs on the all-weather track. Race 8.

I Love to Win, a daughter of Signature Red-Scatter the Silver, will look to build off a sharp debut when she takes on nine rivals in the $200,000 Muskoka Stakes.

Trained by Bill Tharrenos for owner Michael Coll, the dark bay provided her connections with an impressive score in her first start on July 27.

Sent off as the 2-1 mutuel choice in the 5 ½-furlong test over the Woodbine all-weather track, I Love to Win lived up to her name after a professional three-quarter length win in 1:05.95.

Tharrenos, who won the 2010 Muskoka with Lucky Be Me and the 2015 running with Shake Down Baby, was thrilled, but not surprised, by the result.

“We were excited about her ahead of that first start,” said Tharrenos. “The way she closed and ran down the leader was very nice.

“She has matured even more since then. She worked lights-out with Sahin Civaci on Saturday (1:01.40, breezing, over five furlongs on the all-weather track). We are very excited about this race. There are some quality 2-year-old fillies in this race, but we will all find out what we really have.”

Bred in Ontario by Howard Walton, I Love to Win was a $20,000 (CDN) purchase at the 2023 CTHS Ontario Premier Yearling Sale.

Tharrenos is hopeful his rising star can deliver him a third Muskoka win.

“She is blooming right now. She is just one of those fillies that has it in her. We’re running against very nice horses, but she knows her business. We’re happy and very excited.”

Sheri Wickett is the groom.

Dancin Mary Marie, trained by Michelle Love, will step into the stakes spotlight after a fourth in her debut on July 6.

Love, who co-owns the daughter of Souper Speedy-Dance in the Snow with Big Willow Stables and Inferno Racing Stables, LLC, is looking for the dark bay filly to build off that five-furlong maiden voyage over the all-weather track.

“She is a very nice horse. If you watch the replay, she was so far back in that first start, and then she came flying down the lane. I took her home for 10 days, let her enjoy the grass and be a horse, and then brought her back.

“We gave her a pair of five-eighths breezes over the main track [1:04.40 on August 3 and 1:01.80 on August 18). She’s doing well and hopefully she can come up with a big one on Sunday.”

Shelley Panacci is the groom.

“Shelley and her brother [fellow groom] Chris, they are amazing people. We work together as a team to take care of the horses. I really do appreciate them and their help.”

Bred by Lindy Barrow, Dancin Mary Marie was a $20,000 purchase at the 2023 CTHS Ontario Premier Yearling Sale.

Field for the Muskoka
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Tabei – Sofia Vives – Mike Mattine
2 – Periwinkle – Jose Campos – Kevin Attard
3 – Souper Supreme – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
4 – Serious Green – Da-Sean Gaskin – Rodney Barrow
5 – I Love to Win – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Bill Tharrenos
6 – Dancin Mary Marie – Omar Moreno – Michelle Love
7 – Skylight Caper – Pietro Moran – Kevin Attard
8 – Soupergirl – Rafael Hernandez – Martin Drexler
9 – Princess of Storm – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
10 – Scary Speedy – David Moran – Keith Edwards

$100,000 ALGOMA STAKES

for 3-year-old fillies, foaled in Canada. 7 furlongs on the all-weather track. Race 5.

Seven hopefuls, including Tabloid Material, trained and co-owned by Michelle Love, will chase top prize in the Algoma Stakes.

A daughter of Souper Speedy-Hannah Sue, the bay filly reached the stakes podium in her most recent start when she was third in the Thunder Bay Stakes, contested at six furlongs on the E.P. Taylor turf, on August 4.

“She ran her race,” said Love, who co-owns with Brian Patterson, Kathy Biers, and Leila Di Pasquale. “I think she is better on the all-weather than she is on the turf. She is a sound little filly and is training so well right now.”

Bred by Bay Ridge Orchards Limited, Tabloid Material is 2-0-1 from five starts. Her maiden score came last October when she posted a 4 ½-length victory at five furlongs over the Woodbine all-weather track. One race later, she was back in the winner’s circle courtesy of a four-length score in her 3-year-old debut this May.

“We put her away as a 2-year-old, that was always the plan,” said Love. “I like to bring the 2-year-olds slowly. Also, we have our own farm, so it is very easy to turn them out. I think it helps them to get that rest and time off.”

“So, after she won, we put her away and then she came back and ran huge in her first 3-year-old start. It’s nice to see when that patience pays off.”

Tabloid Material was an $18,000 purchase at the 2022 CTHS Ontario Premier Yearling Sale.

“She has a nice walk,” said Love. “A lot of times, I’ll buy them based on their walk. We really liked the way she looked, and she’s turned out to be a very nice horse for us.”

Chris Panacci is the groom.

Other starters include Just Follow Me, a daughter of Old Forester-Marilyns Last Love.

Trained by Bill Tharrenos for owner Michael Coll, the dark bay, 2-1-0 from six starts, arrives at the Algoma off a tough outing in the Thunder Bay Stakes on August 4.

“We were coming off a foot abscess going into that race, and I think the turf was a little soft for her liking,” said Tharrenos, of the sixth-place finish in the six-furlong race over the E.P. Taylor course. “It looked as though she wasn’t sure of herself, she switched leads back and forth, but now, I think she’s back on track and ready for a nice effort on Sunday.”

Bred by John Carey, Just Follow Me was a $31,000 (CDN) purchase at the 2022 CTHS Ontario Premier Yearling Sale.

Sheri Wickett is the groom.

Field for the Algoma
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Vandoo – Pietro Moran – Kevin Attard
2 – Just Follow Me – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Bill Tharrenos
3 – You Be the Judge – Justin Stein – Steve Owens
4 – Little Teddy – Sahin Civaci – Santino Di Paola
5 – Just Magnificent – Ryan Munger – Evette Chartrand-Hoek
6 – Tabloid Material – Omar Moreno – Michelle Love
7 – Red Samurai – Eswan Flores – Sid Attard

$100,000 ELGIN STAKES

for 3-year-old colts & geldings, foaled in Canada. 7 furlongs on the all-weather track. Race 6.

Nine sophomores are set to clash in the Elgin Stakes.

Hall of fame trainer Robert Tiller will send out the duo of If You Insist, a son of Frac Daddy-OK One More, who won last time out, and stakes-placed Yacht Boy, a son of Old Forester-Cawaja Beach.

Stakes-placed Junior Hot Shot, and three-time winner Garofoli, both conditioned by John Ross, will be ridden by Justin Stein and Fraser Aebly, respectively.

Other starters include Criminal Intent, a chestnut son of Reload-Philzana, owned by CamHaven Farms, Valyrian Sky, fourth in last year’s Simcoe Stakes, and multiple stakes placed Summer Commander.

Field for the Elgin
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – If You Insist – Sofia Vives – Robert Tiller
2 – Speedeeman – Rafael Hernandez – Denyse McClachrie
3 – Criminal Intent – Ryan Munger – Steven Flint
4 – Cooler Man – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Nick Nosowenko
5 – Junior Hot Shot – Justin Stein – John Ross
6 – Valyrian Sky – Jose Campos – Steven Chircop
7 – Yacht Boy – Daisuke Fukumoto – Robert Tiller
8 – Summer Commander – Sahin Civaci – Stuart Simon
9 – Garofoli – Fraser Aebly – John Ross

First race post time for Sunday is 1:05 p.m. Fans can also bet on the races through HPIbet.com and bet365.com.