Gale Force wins career debut in Mazarine
ETOBICOKE, Ontario—First-time starter Gale Force caught her favored stablemate, Let It Ride Mom, in deep stretch to take the $154,800 Mazarine Stakes under Eurico Da Silva at Woodbine on Saturday.
Gale Force saved ground in fourth on the backstretch of the 1 1/16-mile route, and then made a two-wide bid on the far turn to join pacemaker I’ll Take the Cake on the lead. Let It Ride Mom rallied four wide on the far turn to hit the front in the stretch, before Gale Force came back on to prevail by a head, in a final time of 1:44.96.
After encountering traffic in the stretch, Spring Tempest finished third, and Lemon Zip wound up fourth in the eight-horse field of 2-year-old fillies.
Gale Force ($10.50) is a daughter of Giant’s Causeway and 2007 Canadian Horse of the Year Sealy Hill, who swept the Canadian Triple Tiara that year.
“She’s a super horse,” said Da Silva. “I was a big fan of her mother. She was perfect in the race — like a 4-year-old. I didn’t want to rush her, and she was so relaxed. In the turn, when she made the lead and saw another horse come outside and pass her, she dug in and passed that horse. She was so game.”
Gale Force gave trainer Mark Casse his sixth win in the Grade 3 Mazarine. She earned $90,000 for Dixiana Farms.