Dragon Bay to keep going long, eyes Sky Classic

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Following Dragon Bay’s upset victory over two-time Canadian champion Are You Kidding Me in the Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes on May 20, trainer Stu Simon thought his horse could make a run at the Grade 1, $800,000 Woodbine Mile in September.

The Eclipse Stakes covered 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta. Dragon Bay followed that win with a victory in the Grade 2 Nijinsky Stakes over 1 1/4 miles on the Woodbine turf on July 29, and now plans have changed.

“I think we’ll go to Plan B,” Simon said. “I just think a mile around one turn, now that he’s matured, is a bit short for him. He has to have things go perfect, so I think we’ll continue on having him stretched out.”

The Nijinsky was Dragon Bay’s first start at 1 1/4 miles, but Simon said he was always confident that Dragon Bay would be able to handle long distances.

“I had no doubt that this horse would go a long way, and the distance wasn’t a question for me at all,” he said. “I know he’ll go even farther.”

Simon said Dragon Bay could run in the Grade 2, $175,000 Sky Classic Stakes over 1 3/8 miles on the turf Aug. 20, followed by the Grade 1, $300,000 Northern Dancer Turf Stakes on Sept. 16.

“I’m not going to shorten him up,” he said. “He’ll run a mile and three-eighths to a mile and a half in his next start.”