Filo Di Arianna leads Casse's 1-2 sweep of Connaught Cup

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Favored Filo Di Arianna and 6-1 shot March to the Arch gave trainer Mark Casse a sweep of the top two positions in Saturday’s Grade 2, $179,700 Connaught Cup at Woodbine.

With Luis Contreras subbing for the injured Kazushi Kimura, Filo Di Arianna went straight to the lead and set a moderate pace in the 7-furlong turf sprint on the main course.

Silent Poet chased Filo Di Arianna from the outset. The latter opened up a clear lead early in the stretch before drawing clear to prevail by 2 1/2 lengths, in a time of 1:20.36.

March to the Arch rallied inside to edge out Silent Poet for second. Chewing Gum wound up fourth and Grade 1 winner Shirl’s Speight finished a non-threatening fifth in a 10-horse race with four scratches.

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Filo Di Arianna was exiting a powerful front-running score in a conditioned allowance here on the Tapeta in his first start with Lasix.

“I just tried to be on the lead,” Contreras said. “He’s just a great horse.”

Owned by Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable, and Peter Deutsch, Filo Di Arianna ($6.80) earned $105,000 in his first stakes score in North America. The 6-year-old son of Drosselmeyer was unbeaten in three starts in his native Brazil in 2019.

Casse said Filo Di Arianna and March to the Arch will both be pointed to the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile here Sept. 17.