Dynalympic deserves respect

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The locals always take notice when Maryland trainer Michael Dickinson comes to Woodbine.

Dickinson won the 1996 Breeders' Cup Mile here with Da Hoss, and took last year's Cup and Saucer Stakes with longshot Master William, who was a maiden. He has shipped in the late-blooming turf horse Dynalympic for Saturday's Grade 3, $168,600 Toronto Cup Handicap.

Dynalympic, a large son of Dynaformer, won his maiden in his fifth start May 2 at Aqueduct. He went on to finish third in an allowance at Delaware, and most recently won a nine-furlong allowance at Monmouth.

"He's a promising horse," said Dickinson. "He's been improving all the time, and I think he'll run very well."

Silver Ticket and Alleged Ruler, who were both far back in the June 27 Queen's Plate, were also entered in the nine-furlong grass race for 3-year-olds.

Silver Ticket finished a close second to Master William in the Oct. 11 Cup and Saucer. He got a late start to his current campaign, and was an easy winner in his season opener in a turf allowance June 5.

Trainer Mark Frostad said he was surprised by Silver Ticket's powerful comeback effort.

"He had some surgery last year and was out for quite a while," Frostad said. "I thought he'd need a race. He was second in the Cup and Saucer, so he should win [an entry-level allowance], but I thought it came up pretty tough."

Silver Ticket was the unexpected pacemaker in the 1 1/4-mile Plate, in which he finished eighth after fading on the far turn.

Alleged Ruler, a late-developing A.P. Indy colt, ended up seventh in the Plate after running on a dead rail.

"I think [the Plate] was a bit too early for him," said trainer Eric Coatrieux, who won the Plate with Niigon. "We took a shot, and it didn't work out."

Alleged Ruler hails from a good French family, and has a license to handle the grass, a surface he has yet to try but did get a feel for as a 2-year-old at Chiefswood Farm.

"From the start, I always thought he'd like the grass," Coatrieux said. "He's trained okay on it. He was supposed to run his first race on the turf at [Gulfstream], but he got kicked by another horse and was scratched at the gate."

Coatrieux said Alleged Ruler worked five-eighths in 1:00 on the dirt at the farm last Sunday, with jockey Robert Landry aboard.