ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse has won the Grade 3 Valedictory a record seven times, including each of the past four years. He sends out the long-winded Irish-bred Tosen Wish in Saturday’s renewal of the $150,000, 1 1/2-mile Tapeta event at Woodbine. Tosen Wish has excellent 1 3/8-mile turf form this year. He ran second in the Grade 3 Singspiel in September and is coming off a conditioned allowance/optional-claiming score, races that sandwiched a wide sixth in the Grade 1 Canadian International. Tosen Wish’s limited synthetic-track form is good. He was a successful handicapper in Europe and lost his last Tapeta start by a nose in a 1 1/8-mile conditioned allowance/optional claimer here July 13. Fraser Aebly will ride him again for Team Valor International. “Tosen Wish is a horse that’s gotten better and better,” Casse said. “I would think he should be tough.” Kevin Attard is a stamina-oriented trainer, so it’s no surprise that he’s won the Valedictory three times. Last year’s Sovereign Award-winning conditioner runs Hammerhead, Jokestar, and Zabo on Saturday. Hammerhead, a 3-year-old with only a maiden win to his credit, has stuck to the grass this year and is coming off a close second to Zabo in a 1 3/8-mile allowance. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “It was an excellent effort,” Attard said. “He kept trying down the lane, but he wasn’t able to get by his stablemate. He’s had some ups and downs in his career, but if you look at his form, he always seems to come back with a good run [after] he’s had a tough outing.” Jokestar has been campaigned mainly on dirt this year after contesting all three legs of the 2024 Canadian Triple Crown. He switched to the Tapeta most recently in the Grade 3 Autumn and rallied for second behind the rejuvenated Canadian champion Dresden Row. “He was well out of it at one point, but he just kept on coming,” Attard said. “He had worked well leading up to the race and has shown that he can produce a nice kick down the lane.” Zabo began his career with trainer Bob Baffert in Southern California, where he was beaten double digits in all four of his races on dirt. Since joining Attard’s string this summer, the 3-year-old Justify gelding has won 2 of 3 outings on the inner turf, including the front-running tally over Hammerhead on Oct. 25. “He has really turned things around,” Attard said. “He bobbled at the start last time, which he also did when he was third the race before, but he recovered quickly and settled into a nice stride. He went to the front and looked very comfortable throughout.” There are two shippers in the nine-horse field – Eff Thirty Five and Passing Game. A turf expert based in Maryland with trainer Brittany Russell, Eff Thirty Five won his last outing in a one-mile allowance/optional claimer at Laurel Park. He was unbeaten in two Tapeta starts last fall at Presque Isle Downs. Passing Game is shortening up off a leading second in the two-mile John Forbes Memorial Stakes on the grass at Far Hills in New Jersey. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.