Dresden Row regains winning form in Autumn Stakes
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Dresden Row redeemed himself with an overdue score over an accomplished field under Ryan Munger in the Grade 3, $157,800 Autumn on Saturday at Woodbine.
Dresden Row, last year’s Canadian champion male 3-year-old, sat a perfect trip behind the dueling leaders, 2023 King’s Plate victor Paramount Prince and favored Funtastic Again.
Dresden Row ($15.40) gained ground to hit the front in midstretch en route to a 1 3/4-length win, in a time of 1:50.07 for the 1 1/8 miles.
Jokestar outran Cameo Performance for second. Swift Delivery checked in fourth and was followed by Lost Ark, Cool Kiss, Loose Wire, Classic Mo Town, Paramount Prince, and Funtastic Again. Map’s a Breeze stumbled at the break and lost Fraser Aebly, who was unscathed.
Dresden Row had placed in each of his other four starts this year without finding the mark. He was coming off a distant third behind Paramount Prince in a conditioned allowance.
“For once, this year, thank goodness the race worked out perfect,” Munger said. “The pace was genuine in front. There were two nice horses that would pull me through. He relaxed quite nicely in behind them. When he leveled out in the stretch and hit the front, his ears were still up and I was like, he’s back.”
Winning trainer Lorne Richards said the son of Lord Nelson could run back in December at Turfway in the Prairie Bayou Stakes, a race he nearly won last year. He was unsure why the gelding tanked in his previous outing.
“I couldn't make an excuse for him - I just don’t know what happened,” Richards said. “He just didn’t fire. We had to scratch him early in the year when he got awfully sick. And he came back and ran a big race off being sick and I think maybe it rung the lemon dry.”
Dresden Row banked $90,000 for owners True North Stable and Bloom Racing Stable.
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