Woodbine: Moonlit Beauty proves herself on Polytrack in Classy 'n Smart

Michael Burns

Moonlit Beauty wins the Classy 'n Smart Stakes at Woodbine.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Moonlit Beauty was expected to be at a disadvantage when moving from turf to Polytrack for her rematch with Reconnect here in Sunday’s 1 1/16-mile Classy ’n Smart Stakes for Ontario-sired fillies and mares. But Moonlit Beauty, who had held off Reconnect by a head when the two last met in the 1 1/16-mile Victoriana, dispelled such thoughts with a wire-to-wire 4 3/4-length tally under her regular rider Eurico Rosa da Silva in the $125,000 Classy ’n Smart.

Moonlit Beauty may have benefited when Kay’s Grace, a potential pace rival, was a vet scratch after getting tangled up in the gate. Reconnect then attempted to force the issue and tired of chasing to finish third.

But, however you slice it, Moonlit Beauty was not about to be beaten on this particular occasion.

“She was training awesome going into this race and carrying the best weight I’d ever seen her,” said John LeBlanc, who trains the 6-year-old Moonlit Beauty for her owner and breeder, Bill Gierkink. “She really impressed me. When I looked up and saw the time, I was shocked.”

Moonlit Beauty had clocked in at 1:43.54 for the Classy ’n Smart, good for a career-high Polytrack Beyer Speed Figure of 90. It was her fourth stakes victory while boosting her career bankroll to $576,391 from 32 starts.

The options for Moonlit Beauty’s next appearance are the River Memories, a $100,000 overnight stakes for fillies and mares over one mile of turf here Oct. 27 or the Nov. 3 Maple Leaf, a 1 1/4-mile Polytrack race for the same set.

Magic Broomstick gets stakes win

Magic Broomstick, an impressive three-length winner of Sunday’s $100,600 Avowal Stakes over seven furlongs of turf while making her first start in 11 months, also could be bound for the River Memories.

“I thought maybe she’d need a mile to get up,” said trainer Malcolm Pierce, who conditions the 6-year-old homebred Magic Broomstick for Sam-Son Farm. “She made it look easy, and it was a decent group she beat. We’ll look at the River Memories, but if it came off the turf we’d be looking to run at Churchill Downs in November or at the Fair Grounds. She’s only got a few more starts. Now that she’s a stakes winner, it will be much easier for her to go the breeding shed.”

Magic Broomstick had finished third in three stakes races – the Grade 2 Canadian over 1 1/8 miles of turf here in 2010 and the last two editions of the River Memories – before making the breakthrough in the Avowal with Emma-Jayne Wilson in the irons.