Canadian Horse of the Year race now wide open

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - When Grade 1 Summer winner Gretzky the Great came up empty in Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, it left the door wide open for 2020 Canadian Horse of the Year honors, which could be decided on “Super Saturday” Nov. 21, when four stakes will be run at Woodbine.

The one-eyed wonder Mighty Heart, who took the Queen’s Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, is arguably the front-runner for the coveted award. It would certainly be a feather in his cap if he were to win the Grade 3 Ontario Derby, which should have a quality field that could also include Breeders’ Stakes winner Belichick, Shirl’s Speight, Mnemba Island, and Malibu Mambo.

The accomplished sprinters Pink Lloyd and Silent Poet are on a collision course toward the Grade 2 Kennedy Road, which the former has won twice. A victory by either in the six-furlong Tapeta event would go a long way to boosting their case for Horse of the Year.

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Pink Lloyd, the popular 2017 Canadian Horse of the Year, was the country’s champion male sprinter in each of the last three years, and he’s unbeaten in four stakes at the meet. He should have an edge in the Kennedy Road on the speedy turf expert Silent Poet, who has two Grade 2 scores to his credit this year: the Connaught Cup and Nearctic.

*** Thursday’s feature opens the eight-race card. A mile-and-70-yard route for 2-year-olds who have not won two races, it combines Ontario-sired allowance types with $40,000 claimers.

Derzkii is coming off by far the best race among the seven entrants, a victory in a one-mile maiden special on turf for Ontario-bred graduates of any sale. He earned a 75 Beyer Speed Figure then under Emma Wilson, who will ride him again for trainer Carlos Grant.

Download is a wild card. After graduating third time out in a seven-furlong maiden special on the grass, he finished seventh in the Grade 1 Summer and then eighth in the Cup and Saucer Stakes, which were both turf stakes. Justin Stein, who was aboard for the colt’s graduation, will ride him for trainer Mike DePaulo.

“I want to give him another try on the (Tapeta) to see where we’re at with him,” DePaulo said. “I was a little disappointed with his last start. He ran a decent race in the Summer. He stumbled and came running. I expect him to run well.”

*** Woodbine has announced later post times to coincide with the Del Mar meet. Thursday racing starts at 2:25 p.m., Friday begins at 4:45 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday cards commence at 1:25 p.m.

The schedule change is expected to remain in effect through the remainder of the meet, which goes until Dec. 13.