DePaulo in rebuilding mode

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Mike DePaulo led all trainers after opening weekend at Woodbine, with three wins from six starts. DePaulo had a string with him at Gulfstream throughout the winter, but he credited his wife, Josie, for his early success here because all three of those winners wintered in Ontario. DePaulo’s highest-profile runners are 2011 champion 3-year-old male Pender Harbour and Grade 2 winner Part the Seas, who was an astute $62,500 claim. He said he’s in a rebuilding mode and probably won’t be atop the standings for very long.

“I’ve got a lot of young horses,” DePaulo said. “I probably have at least 13 babies in.”

Ida Bambina was a decisive winner of an Ontario-sired allowance going five furlongs last Saturday following a 4 1/2-month absence. She won two of her first six starts last year at 2 before coming up empty in the Glorious Song.

“I always thought she could be a real good horse,” DePaulo said. “She disappointed me a little last year. As good as she trained, I thought she could be better. She put a couple of good races together, and then she bounced when we ran her back in 17 days. She ran dynamite the other day.”

DePaulo said he hopes to run Ida Bambina back in a first-level allowance and then in the $125,000 Lady Angela Stakes, a seven-furlong test for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies June 7.