Court Return eyes Gulfstream turf races

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Josie Carroll’s star 3-year-olds Mighty Heart, Belichick, and Curlin’s Voyage all garnered lots of attention this year. What’s been overlooked coming out of her barn has been the remarkable development of the well-bred 4-year-old Court Return, who went from being a maiden to a near Grade 1 winner during the course of the Woodbine meet.

A turf expert who dislikes Tapeta, Court Return graduated by 8 1/2 lengths in her season opener on the inner turf July 2, when she lowered the 1 1/16-mile course record. She won another inner turf route Aug. 22, the Eternal Search Stakes for Ontario-sired females, when Daisuke Fukumoto rode her for the first time.

When reunited with the rider who won her maiden, Luis Contreras, Court Return earned valuable Grade 2 black type when third in the Canadian on the main turf Sept. 12. Fukumoto was aboard most recently, when she rallied stoutly from sixth to lose the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor by a neck to the Chad Brown-trained shipper Etoile.

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By former Ontario sire Court Vision, Court Return is a half-sister to the Grade 1 winners Channel Maker and Johnny Bear. Her dam, In Return, won the 2018 Sovereign Award for outstanding broodmare for her owner, Ivan Dalos.

“She’s a filly who was meant to mature late,” Carroll said. “If you look at Johnny Bear and Channel Maker, they didn’t win their Grade 1’s until later in their careers. At 2, she couldn’t get out of her own way, and then she started to get better at 3. Now, she’s really come into her own.”

Turf racing at the meet ends Sunday. Carroll said Court Return could be campaigned on the grass at Gulfstream this winter.

Yorkton retired to stud

Chiefswood Stables’ speedy stakes winner Yorkton, one of Woodbine’s top sprinters in recent years, has been retired to stud at Crestwood Farm in Kentucky, standing for a fee of $5,000 in 2021.

Trained predominantly by Stuart Simon, Yorkton won five stakes, including two editions of the Grade 3 Bold Venture on Tapeta. The 6-year-old son of Speightstown finished third in his last start in the Grade 2 True North on dirt June 27 at Belmont, when trained by Graham Motion.

Yorkton won 7 of 30 starts, for earnings of $700,046.

◗ There is no stakes on Sunday’s 11-race card. A second-level allowance route on the inner turf drew a field of nine fillies and mares, including the main-track-only entrant Moonlight Rain.

Preferred Guest broke out of a slump when winning back-to-back Ontario-sired allowances in her last two outings. She could vie for favoritism with the Maryland shipper Tuned, who’s coming off a wide third in a second-level allowance at Belmont.