Chiefswood sends out trios in both Bison City and Niagara
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Chiefswood Stables will have three representatives in each of Saturday’s Woodbine stakes, including Piper’s Gift, Bold Time, and Glitter and Glow in the $350,000 Bison City, the middle leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara.
A 1 1/16-mile Tapeta route, the Bison City lured just three other Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies: Katie’s Grace, Bossy Candy, and Lake Louise.
The Dale Desruisseaux-trained Piper’s Gift should be favored off her 4-for-5 record on Tapeta. In her only Tapeta loss, in the July 19 Woodbine Oaks, she checked in fifth after getting sawed off early.
“The race was over on the first turn,” said Chiefswood general manager Robert Landry. “She lost her room and everything went backwards from there. She’s much better than that. She came out of it well. Dale’s been happy with her. This will give her a chance to show what she can do.”
Bold Time blew away allowance opponents three back and then came up empty in the Grade 3 Selene before a respectable third in the rapidly run Woodbine Oaks.
“I was disappointed in her [penultimate] race, but I was very pleased her last race,” Landry said. “It was a good effort. I think there’s bigger and better things ahead for her.”
After a non-threatening seventh when debuting over seven furlongs, Glitter and Glow led all the way in a 1 1/8-mile allowance on July 4. Landry said he had hoped to run her two turns at first asking.
“We quite like her,” Landry said. “We ran her seven-eighths, which we knew she didn’t want to do, but we have so many 3-year-old fillies and we were trying to separate them all. She ran pretty green in that first start. After that race, she really started picking it up. She’s been training well.”
Niagara
Chiefswood runs Roscar, Side Street, and English Actor in the $125,000 Niagara, a 1 3/8-mile turf route in which Dancin in Da’nile should go favored while seeking his first stakes score.
Trained by Gail Cox, Dancin in Da’nile placed behind North America’s leading grass runner, Burnham Square, in each of his last two outings at Churchill, finishing second in the Grade 3 Louisville before ending up third most recently in the Chorleywood Stakes.
“Burnham Square wasn’t supposed to run in [the Chorleywood],” Cox recalled. “But that’s how it came up and Dancin in Da’nile ran his typical race, where he was all heart. The farther the race, the better it is for him.”
Roscar, victorious in the 1 1/2-mile Breeders’ Stakes in 2024, has gone winless in 10 starts in the interim.
“He’s starting to come around now,” Landry said. “We were a little disappointed in his last few starts. He’s been training well. He hasn’t had his race. He wants to go far.”
Truly Quality, based at Turfway with trainer Jonathan Thomas, was hard ridden while closing for second last time out in the JRA Turf Cup at Laurel. He came from left field to win his lone Woodbine outing in the Grade 3 Singspiel last October.
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