Ghostly Presence enjoying downtime in Florida

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Ghostly Presence stamped herself as a contender for next June’s Woodbine Oaks with an upset win in the $251,200 Princess Elizabeth Stakes over 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta on Nov. 12. She has since traveled to Florida, where she’ll get a freshening before resuming a winter campaign.

Trainer Roger Attfield said he’ll have a string of 39 horses with him this winter at the Payson Park training center in Indiantown, Fla. Along with Ghostly Presence, Queen’s Plate contender Tiz a Slam will be there. Both are Chiefswood Stable homebreds, and Attfield said they would get a break before resuming their training.

“Tiz a Slam and her will be off until just after Christmas, and then I’ll pick them up after that,” he said. “They’ll get three or four weeks off, for sure.”

Attfield said he plans to run both horses in the U.S. over the winter.

Ghostly Presence’s victory in the Princess Elizabeth was her second win in four starts. She won her career debut by eight lengths in a six-furlong sprint Aug. 13 before finishing fifth in her stakes debut in the Ontario Debutante on Sept. 10. Prior to the Princess Elizabeth, she was fourth in an allowance race around two turns. She finished the season with earnings of $198,624.