Casse has a pair of players in Woodbine feature

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse sends out two of the six fillies and mares in Friday’s Woodbine feature. Cahira’s Blessing will be winging it up front under apprentice Sofia Vives, while Lady Onyx should be in mid-pack under Patrick Husbands in the conditioned allowance with a $50,000 claiming option.

It will be Cahira’s Blessing’s first start around two turns and she has never gone as far as the 7 1/2-furlong distance of this inner turf event. Vives rode her in back-to-back victories last summer, which included a first-level allowance score where Cahira’s Blessing got an 82 Beyer Speed Figure. Her last three races were poor, but her speed could carry well with the temporary rail in lane 3.

Lady Onyx was stakes placed twice on the grass last year at minor tracks in England. The Irish-bred has started three times on the Tapeta here this year, taking a 5 1/2-furlong allowance off an extended layoff with a 76 Beyer on opening day of the meet. She failed to make an impact in her two starts at this level and a change in surfaces could be just what the doctor ordered.

Rosa was scratched from last Saturday’s Grade 3 Ontario Colleen, but trainer Kevin Attard didn’t give her the day off. That morning, she breezed an easy half-mile in 50.40 seconds with 2022 Canadian Horse of the Year Moira.

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Rosa was off the board in three starts during the spring, all in stakes for 3-year-old fillies. She won two of four outings last year, including the Presque Isle Debutante on Tapeta. Apprentice Pietro Moran will again ride the daughter of Street Boss.

The stakes-placed mares Devil’s Bit and Saratoga Vision are both competing with the $50,000 claiming price.

The Roger Attfield-trained Devil’s Bit won a Tapeta route at this level a year ago but has since been a disappointment. She was never in contention in her season opener in the Grade 2 Nassau and is in for a tag for the first time since early in her career.

Trained by owner Alexander Patykewich, Saratoga Vision is exiting a wide-closing second in a seven-furlong Tapeta sprint. The 7-year-old was blocked in midstretch while in the midst of her rally before checking in sixth in a seven-furlong main turf tilt June 15.

Completing the fourth-race lineup is Pemberley, who’s stretching out for her second race off a 7 1/2-month vacation.

◗ Perhaps Tonight is the 124-pound highweight in Friday’s sixth, a one-mile starter for females on the inner turf, dubbed the Midsummer Handicap.

A wonderfully versatile mare, Perhaps Tonight is debuting off a $50,000 claim by trainer Mike Wright Jr. She had significant traffic problems while closing for second and was arguably best in her last race, a seven-furlong main turf sprint. Ryan Munger has the mount in her first local inner turf race.

Among the other contenders in the eight-horse field are Arriviste, Mi Corazon, and Zisisit.

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