Awesome Bourbon's bid for first stakes win in Jacques Cartier comes off layoff
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Awesome Bourbon comes off a winter layoff looking for his first stakes success in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Jacques Cartier at Woodbine.
Trained by Abraham Katryan, Awesome Bourbon was an astute $35,000 claim by owner Carlo D’Amato at Gulfstream in 2024. The 6-year-old reached full bloom last year, during which he won four of 10 starts under a variety of conditions. He lacked room in the stretch last time out Nov. 15 under Pietro Moran before ending up third and subsequently promoted to second by disqualification in the Grade 3 Kennedy Road on the Tapeta.
“He showed me a different gear the last few races, where he doesn’t need the lead,” Katryan said.
Katryan is elated with the way that Awesome Bourbon has trained this spring.
“I am so impressed with him this year,” Katryan said. “He’s put on some more weight and he looks really good. I kept him here in Ontario with me over the winter, knowing that we were heading to this race. I wanted to get him tight enough for it – he’s had enough under his belt, and every work seems to be a little better than the one before. Pietro was on him for all the works and he loves him.”
The six-furlong sprint seems wide open. One could make a case for most of the eight entrants, including G T Five Hundred, Its Bourbon Thirty, Lithe Spirit, Playmea Tune, Possiblemente, and Western Whirl.
G T Five Hundred eked out a victory in his local debut and first start for trainer Dale Desruisseaux here in the May 3 Thorncliffe Stakes. He earned a low 79 Beyer Speed Figure then, but the steady 6-year-old got a 95 Beyer for winning the Feb. 13 Forego Stakes over Turfway’s Tapeta.
Its Bourbon Thirty finished a close second in the 6 1/2-furlong Forego, after which he missed the board in back-to-back Grade 2 turf sprints in Kentucky. Jeremiah O’Dwyer trains the 5-year-old at his Keeneland base.
Lithe Spirit is taking on the boys off a chalky second here in the Grade 3 Whimsical in her first try for trainer Kevin Attard. She was previously victorious in the six-furlong Queen Stakes at Turfway.
Playmea Tune won the 2025 Forego and a subsequent conditioned allowance with a 94 Beyer before a troubled fourth in this year’s Forego. He rallied for third most recently in the Army Mule Stakes on the dirt at Gulfstream.
Possiblemente put up Beyers in the high 90s in each of his last three outings, which included a pair of conditioned allowance/optional-claiming scores at Turfway. He’s getting back on Lasix after racing without it last time when a wide fifth in the Grade 2 Turf Sprint at Churchill.
“We’ve rediscovered him and he’s excelling as a closing sprinter,” trainer Joe Sharp said.
Western Whirl is removing the blinkers for his first start since a flat fifth in the Kennedy Road. The front-runner can acquit himself well when fresh as evidenced by his allowance win off a six-month break last spring.
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