Stacked Deck solidifies Sovereign Award credentials in Kennedy Road
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Stacked Deck staked his claim for the Sovereign Award as this year’s Canadian champion male sprinter with a dominating score over a quality field in the Grade 2 Kennedy Road at Woodbine on Sunday.
Stacked Deck ($7.30) fell into an ideal three-wide stalking trip in the six-furlong sprint, behind the dueling leaders Paso Doble and Rexton, who set fast fractions.
Stalked Deck hit the front early in the stretch, and then drew off to prevail by 2 3/4 lengths over Passion for Action. His final time of 1:08.34 was just .18 of a second off the Polytrack record.
After getting bumped hard at the break, Goodoldhockeygame rallied for third. The favored Calgary Cat was a non-threatening eighth in the 11-horse field.
Luis Contreras got a leg up from trainer Barb Minshall on Stacked Deck, who was coming off a 10th in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
“I thought he was in really good order coming out of that race,” Minshall said. “I was really happy with the way he trained into this, so we took a shot. When I saw him come into the paddock, I knew he was on his game.”
Stacked Deck earned $120,000 of the $213,600 purse for owner-breeder Bruce Lunsford.