Acoustic Shadow in off prep win

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The $125,000 Display Stakes has been a springboard to greater things for several promising runners in recent years, including Judiths Wild Rush and Accountforthegold.

Following his easy victory in the allowance prep for the Display, Acoustic Shadow will try to show that he belongs in the upper echelon of Woodbine's 2-year-old division in Saturday's renewal of the 1 1/16-mile Display.

Acoustic Shadow, who brought just $1,200 at a Florida yearling sale, is owned by trainer Ralph Biamonte and Conor Healy. He won his first two starts at five furlongs on the inner dirt track, a $40,000 maiden race and an allowance, then ran third in back-to-back stakes.

According to Biamonte, Acoustic Shadow was ill-suited to the tight turns of the inner track.

"He didn't have his full coordination then," Biamonte said. "He would make a little stutter-step going into the turn and lose his momentum. He didn't run badly on it, but he didn't like it. I think he's developed into a better horse the last couple of months. He's come around, and his confidence is high."

Two starts ago in the Grade 3 Grey Stakes, Acoustic Shadow finished fifth behind Skip Code after racing four wide throughout.

"It was just a bad trip," Biamonte said. "We had a bad post, and we couldn't find a way in. [Skip Code] was just too good."

Jiggs Coz should be dangerous off his third-place finish in the Coronation Futurity, in which he set most of the pace under David Clark.

"He had the blinkers on in his last race and wouldn't relax," said trainer Sid Attard. "He showed a lot of speed, and David said he never dropped the bit. He said if he had relaxed a little, we would have been in business. I don't think he needs the blinkers, and I'm taking them off."

Jiggs Coz, a son of successful turf sire Cozzene, won his only other start, which came on the grass.

"His breeding says grass, but I don't think it matters to him what surface he runs on," Attard said. "He's a nice, big horse. For a colt, he behaves himself. He had shins, so we took our time with him."

Windward Islands, another son of Cozzene, finished a distant second in the prep.

"He's probably more suited to turf, but he seems to run all right on the Poly," said trainer Mark Frostad. "He came from way out of it [in the prep]. Hopefully, he'll be a little closer this time. The distance will certainly suit him."