Avie's Mineshaft back on main track in La Lorgnette

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Wonder Where Stakes winner Avie’s Mineshaft will go back to the Tapeta against open company in Saturday’s $100,000 La Lorgnette, a 1 1/16-mile event for 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine.

After ending up fourth in the Grade 3 Selene in May, Avie’s Mineshaft bypassed the Woodbine Oaks before narrowly losing the second leg of the Canadian triple tiara, the Bison City Stakes.

Avie’s Mineshaft tried turf for the first time in the anchor leg of the tiara, the Wonder Where. Under Gary Boulanger, she rallied from a trailing fifth to upset Oaks winner Dixie Moon in the 10-furlong route for Canadian-breds.

“I worked her on the grass once, and she really got over it well,” Boulanger said. “She’s been a grinding kind of filly on the [Tapeta]. She doesn’t give up. She keeps trying. I think she’s gotten better every race I’ve rode her in. She’s maturing.”

The La Lorgnette lured a field of 11, including a host of intriguing shippers.

KEY CONTENDERS

Avie’s Mineshaft, by Mineshaft
Last 3 Beyers: 91-78-80

◗ Over the past five years, trainer Josie Carroll is 2 for 5 with turf-to-synthetic starters in non-graded stakes. One of those runners was 2013 La Lorgnette winner Leigh Court, who was ridden by Boulanger.

A. A. Azula’s Arch, by Arch
Last 3 Beyers: 77-85-72

◗ Both of her victories came on the Tapeta, but she was second two starts ago in the Grade 3 Ontario Colleen. She was eighth most recently in the Grade 3 Pucker Up at Arlington.

Ladies Night, by Eskendereya
Last 3 Beyers: 84-71-12

◗ She won a first-level allowance route on the Tapeta in May and was a front-running third in the one-mile Ontario Colleen on July 21.

Cascanueces, by Smart Strike
◗ She won all three of her races last year in Peru, including two Group 1 stakes. She has been working regularly at Saratoga for trainer Todd Pletcher, who’s putting her on Lasix.

Cosmic Love, by Sea The Stars

She was competitive on synthetics last winter in England, where she won an allowance on the grass in June. This is her debut for trainer Roger Attfield.

Miss Mo Mentum, by Uncle Mo
Last 3 Beyers: 52-91-54

◗ The impressive Selene winner, she has been freshened since a lackluster performance against older rivals in the Grade 3 Trillium on June 17.

Miss Sienna, by Equiano
Last 3 Beyers: 82-76-NA

◗ She wasn’t an impact player in her last two outings, which came in Grade 2 turf stakes in Southern California, but won her lone synthetic-track race, which came in France.

Shamrock Rose, by First Dude
Last 3 Beyers: 76-74-77

◗ She romped in a recent 100-grander for Pennsylvania-breds on the Tapeta at Presque Isle Downs.