Caribou Club prevails in Connaught Cup

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Under a textbook turf ride from Gary Boulanger, Caribou Club split horses in the stretch before drawing clear to take the Grade 2, $183,750 Connaught Cup Stakes over Tower of Texas at Woodbine on Saturday.

Caribou Club ($18) saved ground in fifth in the seven-furlong sprint as Dimension and Yorkton fought for the lead through fractions of 23.42 seconds and 45.45. Caribou Club awaited room entering the stretch and then kicked away after finding it, scoring by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:20.22 and getting a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Tower of Texas, last year’s Connaught Cup victor, rallied down the center of the course from last to edge out the favored Conquest Panthera for second. Yorkton, Forge, Bondurant, Camelot Kitten, and Dimension competed the order of finish.

Caribou Club, a 4-year-old son of City Zip, banked $105,000 for Glen Hill Farm and Maryland-based trainer Tom Proctor.

“He’s a really nice horse,” said Boulanger, who also won the 2015 Connaught Cup on Lockout. “[Proctor] said to get him out of the gate. Sometimes you’ve got to help him because he’s got that extension blinker. I got him into a good position. I was just sitting there, waiting for a spot. He had me in a great position, and when I asked him, he exploded.”