Authenicat looks to stretch speed
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Authenicat should be favored Wednesday night at Woodbine in the $125,000 Classy 'n Smart Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile route for Ontario-sired females.
Authenicat has the same successful jockey/trainer combo as the Grade 1-winning millionaire Careless Jewel - jockey Robert Landry and trainer Josie Carroll.
Authenicat has been campaigned primarily as a sprinter, although she landed the 1 1/16-mile Eternal Search Stakes as a 3-year-old in 2008. In her last start, she was a fading fourth over seven furlongs in the Grade 3 Seaway Stakes.
"She's a pretty versatile filly," Landry said. "Her perfect distance is probably seven-eighths, but she's won at a mile and a sixteenth before, and she ran a good race at a mile and an eighth in the Woodbine Oaks. Every time she goes out there, she tries her eyeballs out. That's all you can ask from a horse. I think she likes the colder weather, too."
Double Malt has captured three consecutive stakes for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies. She will face older rivals for the first time.
Double Malt's streak began in the seven-furlong Passing Mood on turf in July, and she doubled up in the 1 1/16-mile Eternal Search on Aug. 22 on the Polytrack. She was all-out to win her last outing in the one-mile La Prevoyante, which was run over a hard turf course.
Eurico Rosa Da Silva will ride Double Malt for trainer Malcolm Pierce.
Santina d'Or could be the sleeper in her stakes debut. She was only an early factor in her first start for trainer Paul Attard in her belated season opener July 4, but she won a fast seven-furlong allowance for Ontario-sired stock a month later, for which she got an 82 Beyer Speed Figure.
Santina d'Or has been idle since taking a 1 1/16-mile allowance with a 66 Beyer on Aug. 26.
"She didn't come to me right away, and it took her a little longer to come around," Attard said. "I think patience has paid off. It's been six weeks since her last race, and she's fresh. She's been working very well. I think she's been training better now than she ever has."
You Will Love Me finished a close second to longshot Bold Corky in last year's Classy 'n Smart. Her best result in five starts this year was a runner-up placing on turf in the Victoriana Stakes.
Krz Exec also is worth considering, off a third-place finish in the restricted Algoma Stakes.