Caren back quickly in Selene Stakes
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – After running second to Crumlin Spirit in the Lady Angela Stakes on May 1, Caren will make a quick return for Sunday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Selene Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta at Woodbine.
Caren is one of four fillies in the Selene field eligible for next month’s $500,000 Woodbine Oaks. Trainer Mike De Paulo said the quick comeback is not ideal, but the Selene was Caren’s best option to prepare for the Oaks.
“The race in Florida was so bad that we needed to run her somewhere here, so we ran in the Lady Angela,” he said. “She’s won five races, so there’s no condition race for her. The only other choice would have been the Fury, but we didn’t want to run her seven-eighths and run her three weeks before the Oaks. We’re losing a week this week but gaining a week as far as going into the Oaks.”
Caren rebounded nicely in the Lady Angela from her last-place finish in the Any Limit Stakes on dirt at Gulfstream Park in March. She earned a career-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure while carrying the high weight of 123 pounds in the Lady Angela.
“That was as good of a race as she could have run,” De Paulo said. “The track wasn’t favoring speed that day. She was giving seven pounds to the winner, which is never easy to do. We didn’t get paid, but I think she ran a winning effort.”
Key Contenders
Caren, by Society’s Chairman
Last 3 Beyers: 85-28-78
◗ De Paulo expects Caren to be forwardly placed in the Selene.
“She probably won’t be too far from it,” he said. “She won the Princess Elizabeth on the lead. I guess it will all depend on how she breaks and how the pace is.”
Gamble’s Ghost, by Ghostzapper
Last 3 Beyers: 74-73-75
◗ She won the Grade 3 Mazarine Stakes at this distance as a juvenile last season and will add Lasix for the first time.
◗ She finished a close sixth in her 3-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs on turf in March after encountering traffic at the top of the stretch.
Thrilled, by Uncle Mo
Last 3 Beyers: 85-68-61
◗ DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Trainer Todd Pletcher has an 18 percent strike rate in graded stakes at Woodbine over the past five years, with a return on investment of $1.01.
Treasuring, by Smart Strike
Last 3 Beyers: 80-69-70
◗ One of two horses in the field trained by Josie Carroll, she won the Star Shoot Stakes over six furlongs here April 16.
◗ She ran fifth in her most recent route race, the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos in December.