ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse takes a strength-in-numbers approach into Sunday’s 70th running of the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks when he sends out Shifty, Winterberry, War Signal, No Time, and Ella It Is, among a field of 12. The 1 1/8-mile Oaks heads a 10-race card that also includes the $150,000 Plate Trial Stakes, an important King’s Plate prep, the Grade 2 Canadian, and the Grade 2 Connaught Cup. The Oaks is run over Woodbine’s Tapeta course and is the first leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara, a lucrative series for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies. It will be followed by the $250,000 Bison City Stakes on Tapeta Aug. 9 and the $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes on turf Sept. 6. Shifty is a shaky favorite because of the distance, although the need-the-lead type may take some catching if things go her way. She graduated in the Catch a Glimpse Stakes on the grass second time out at 2 before failing to win over a route of ground. This year, the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro romped in her May 18 season opener in a seven-furlong allowance before a stalking third at 2-5 in the seven-furlong Fury Stakes. Sahin Civaci has the mount. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports “Shifty is probably the most talented [of the group],” Casse said. “She has her quirks. If she can settle and get into a good rhythm, she will be tough. She’s very talented.” Winterberry is making her first start around two turns off a front-running score in the Fury, for which she got an 86 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest in the Oaks lineup. The inconsistent daughter of Frosted also won the seven-furlong Glorious Song Stakes at 2. “Winterberry may keep going,” Casse said. “She’s coming into the Oaks better than ever. I’m still not 100 percent sure she can get the mile and an eighth, but she is very talented. I talked to Patrick [Husbands] the other day after he worked her and he told me that she is a different horse. I know that he’s excited about her running.” War Signal was beaten just two lengths when sixth after leading the way in the Grade 3 Marine June 28, when stretching out off a wide seventh in the seven-furlong Ruling Angel Stakes. “She ran well in the Marine,” Casse recalled. “It was against colts and I thought she hung in there. She is a horse who I would have said this winter was our best chance to win the Oaks. She disappointed me a little bit in the Ruling Angel, but her race in the Marine was pretty good. She’s another one who likes to be up close to the lead.” No Time went gate to wire in a 1 1/16-mile allowance June 1, winning by four lengths with a 79 Beyer. She was rank early in third before checking in fourth most recently over a speed-favoring track in the Grade 3 Selene. Ella It Is was a non-threatening seventh in the slow-paced Selene. “I think No Time is a sleeper,” Casse predicted. “She’s not easy to ride. She’s another one that if she is happy, she is going to be tough. Johnny Velazquez is going to ride her for us.” Casse has won the Oaks on four occasions, most recently with Elysian Field in 2023, and notched his 4,000th career victory on Thursday. “With all our fillies, the question is the mile and an eighth,” Casse said. “Every rider is going to do their own thing. I am not giving any instructions. I think the break is going to be very important and how each rider can get their horse to settle going into the first turn.” Among the other contenders are Reveler’s Row and Aristella. Reveler’s Row could be an up-and-comer in the division. After winning her debut in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden-special May 25, she set a slow pace in a 1 1/8-mile allowance before giving way late when second to the older Casse runner Aspen Dawn, who subsequently ran fifth in allowance company at Colonial. “She’s good to go,” said trainer Katerina Vassilieva, who sent her out to breeze five-eighths in a spry 1:00.40 last Sunday. The Rachel Halden-trained Aristella took the slowly run Princess Elizabeth Stakes going 1 1/16 miles for Canadian-breds Nov. 30. This year, the diminutive bay finished fifth in the Ruling Angel and fourth in the Fury. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.