Familiar foes square off in featured allowance
?q=100)
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Artemus Citylimits will try to prove his 19-1 upset in the $150,000 Vice Regent Stakes wasn’t a fluke when contesting the featured conditioned allowance on holiday Monday at Woodbine. The five-furlong inner turf dash lured five others and goes as the fifth race on a nine-race card.
A durable 8-year-old trained by Marty Drexler, Artemus Citylimits spent his formative years with trainers Wesley Ward, Mike Trombetta, and Joe Sharp. He was shipped north of the border to Drexler in the spring and was promoted from third to second by disqualification at this level June 12.
In the five-furlong Vice Regent for Ontario-breds, Artemus Citylimits rallied outside from well off a fast pace to win by a neck over Giant Teddy. The troubled favorite, Outlaw Kid, checked in fourth in a blanket finish. Over a course labeled good, the final time was 57.19 seconds, and Artemus Citylimits earned an 84 Beyer Speed Figure.
The Vice Regent was the first Woodbine stakes victory for the Barbados native Xarel Forde.
“It went to plan,” said Forde, who is in his first year riding in Canada. “We had a good break and just sat behind the speed. Turning for home, I set him loose.”
Forde, who was riding without the bug in the Vice Regent, will get his five-pound apprentice allowance on Monday when Artemus Citylimits competes with a $50,000 claiming tag. Drexler said he had the Aug. 17 Vice Regent in mind for the son of Temple City when he came to Woodbine this spring and decided to go into the race fresh.
“We tried to get him into a race before [the Vice Regent], but I didn’t really like the timing of it,” Drexler recalled. “So I said, ‘Let’s just wait for this.’ I really liked him going in. I had [Silent Reserve] in there, too, and he was the speed horse. I think he probably didn’t love the soft going. This horse, it was a good setup for him, and he finished up well.”
Silent Reserve figures to cut loose on the lead if Giant Teddy is allowed to settle off the pace, like he did in the Vice Regent. Silent Reserve was claimed for $32,000 by Drexler when the 5-year-old wired the field in a five-furlong allowance June 29. He led for most of the Vice Regent before tiring in the final sixteenth to end up sixth.
Normally a front-runner, Giant Teddy was checked along the rail heading into the turn before closing outside to just miss in the Vice Regent. He was claimed from Drexler by trainer Sylvain Pion when landing an allowance on the Tapeta on July 20.
Jet Sweep Joe ships in from Turfway after missing the board in back-to-back Grade 3 turf stakes at Saratoga. He won the aforementioned inner turf sprint here June 12, which was just his second career victory.
Light the Lamp won two consecutive starter allowances on the grass in June. He ran third most recently on the Tapeta in the Pink Lloyd Stakes for Ontario-sired stock.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.