Flashy Margaritta in peak form for Achievement
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Flashy Margaritta hasn’t done much wrong for trainer Ralph Biamonte, and the speedy gelding seeks his fourth stakes score Saturday at Woodbine in the $150,000 Achievement, a six-furlong dash for Ontario-bred 3-year-olds.
Flashy Margaritta prevailed in two Ontario-sired stakes in the fall, the Bull Page and Frost King. He tired to fourth after setting a rapid pace when returning from a winter layoff May 23, and then won the restricted Bold Ruckus Stakes in his turf debut June 14.
Biamonte said he felt that Flashy Margaritta needed his first start back in that open allowance.
“That was a tune-up,” Biamonte said. “We wanted to get one into him before the Bold Ruckus. We didn’t drill him too hard, knowing that we had these stakes races coming up.”
Biamonte said he wasn’t surprised when Flashy Margaritta made a smooth transition to grass racing in the six-furlong Bold Ruckus.
“I was looking forward to the grass,” Biamonte said. “He had worked real well on it. His brother, Citius, liked it, and he’s by a grass horse, Bold n’ Flashy.”
Trainer Bob Tiller decided to forego Sunday’s Queen’s Plate with The Imposter and Spadina Road in favor of the Achievement.
After winning his first two starts, The Imposter finished second May 17 in the seven-furlong Queenston Stakes.
“He’s doing so good that I want to keep him sprinting,” Tiller said. “I’m keeping him out of that Plate grind because I think he’s a pretty nice horse that’ll make some money going shorter.”
Spadina Road, who was supplemented for $3,000, defeated Flashy Margaritta in the May 23 allowance before closing for third in the Bold Ruckus.
Completing the field are Eighty Nine Red and 2013 Canadian champion 2-year-old Go Greeley, who has struggled this year.
Speightsong switches surfaces
Speightsong heads Saturday’s $100,000 Charlie Barley, a one-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds. A Sam-Son Farm homebred, Speightsong is 2 for 2 going seven furlongs on Polytrack this year, including a front-running win in the Queenston. He wound up third in his only turf outing against maidens at 2.
Trainer Malcolm Pierce said he always thought of Speightsong as a turf horse and felt that a mile should be ideal for the half-brother to reigning Canadian Horse of the Year Up With the Birds.
Eight others were entered, including stakes winners Jose Sea View and Puntrooskie.
Unhindered to Ontario Debutante
Biamonte said his unbeaten 2-year-old filly Unhindered will get a little break before her next appearance in the $125,000 Ontario Debutante Stakes going six furlongs here Aug. 9.
Unhindered won her two outings two weeks apart, both in front-running fashion, including last Saturday’s $125,000 My Dear Stakes, in which she got a 69 Beyer Speed Figure for covering five-eighths in 58.33 seconds.
“She’s a gutsy little filly,” Biamonte said. “She came out of it very good. She ate up the next day. You know she’s tired, but to look at her, you’d never think so. She’s still her cocky little self.”
Fairlie has options for Silent Treat
Silent Treat notched her second stakes win of the meet over a quality group last Sunday in the $100,000 Zadracarta, her first win on grass. She made all the running under Michelle Rainford, who also was aboard when she won the restricted Ballade on Polytrack in her May 3 season opener. Silent Treat was a flat sixth in her lone start between those two engagements, in an Ontario-sired allowance with no conditions.
Trainer Scott Fairlie said Silent Treat, a 4-year-old by Silent Name, began to blossom in the fall.
“She was improving at the end of last year,” Fairlie said. “She had a long year, too. She ran 10 times and ran big every single race. Winning that stakes first time out was a confidence-builder for her. Second time out, I think she just got frazzled. There was a delay in the race before, and she got over there a little too soon. She was too cranked in the paddock, and I think it took something out of her.”
Fairlie said he nominated Silent Treat to the $75,000 Rainbow Connection, a five-furlong Ontario-sired stakes on grass at Fort Erie on July 29. He’s also eyeing the Grade 3 Royal North, a six-furlong turf stakes here July 27.