Dominion Day, Bison City stakes close out weekend

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – A busy weekend of racing at Woodbine will wrap up Sunday afternoon with a pair of stakes on an 11-race card.

The first stakes of the day on Sunday will be the Grade 3, $125,000 Dominion Day Stakes over 1 1/4 miles on the Tapeta. The field is led by Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes winner Souper Tapit, who has won both of his starts at Woodbine. Trainer Mark Casse said Souper Tapit should appreciate the added distance.

“We think he really wants a mile and a quarter, a mile and a half,” he said. “I’ve always thought he was a really good horse, but he gets in his own way and sometimes he gets himself in trouble. He’s just a hit-and-miss horse. You just never know what you’re going to get with him. If things go his way, he’s extremely tough.”

Trainer Kevin Attard has entered a pair of horses in the Dominion Day, Special Forces and Pumpkin Rumble. Special Forces has won three straight allowance events and will make his stakes debut in the Dominion Day, while Pumpkin Rumble won the Grade 3 Valedictory Stakes in his most recent start last December.

The Dominion Day field also features Are You Kidding Me, who has run third in this race the last two years, Final Copy, and Aheadbyacentury.

Later on the card is the $225,000 Bison City Stakes for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies, the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Tiara series.

Bold Script suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the Woodbine Oaks on June 8, but will likely be the favorite to take the prize in this event. Despite the defeat, trainer Stu Simon was pleased with Bold Script’s effort in the Woodbine Oaks.

“She ran a super race,” he said. “She ran a lifetime-best number and we were really pleased with her race. The best part about it for us is how well she took it and came out of it. She’s moved forward since and we expect her to run well on Sunday.”

Four other fillies will be exiting the Woodbine Oaks to run in the Bison City, including Speedy Soul, Intanga Rose, Lady Azalea, and Souciologist.

An intriguing shipper in the Bison City is Razeena, who is still a maiden. She most recently earned an 81 Beyer Speed Figure in a runner-up finish in a maiden special weight event at Belmont Park on May 30 for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, and had previously run in Dubai over the winter under the care of Doug Watson. Three starts back, in February, she finished third in the Group 3 UAE Oaks at Meydan.

Rounding out the Bison City field is Canadian Magic for trainer Darwin Banach, who has won three out of her last five starts, including an allowance event two starts back over seven furlongs on Tapeta.