Ginger Gold seeks redemption

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Ginger Gold and Silver Nithi, the winners of the first two jewels of the Canadian triple tiara, clash Monday in the final leg of the series, the $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes, a 1 1/4-mile turf race.

Monday's Woodbine card also features the Victoriana Stakes and a simulcast of the Manitoba Derby from Assiniboia Downs.

Ginger Gold, last year's Canadian champion

2-year-old filly, won the June 8 Labatt Woodbine Oaks with determination. She dueled through rapid fractions in the 1 1/8-mile Oaks, and held off a closing Silver Nithi.

In the middle leg of the Tiara series, the Bison City Stakes at Fort Erie, Silver Nithi mowed down heavily favored Ginger Gold in deep stretch, even though Ginger Gold had set modest fractions on an uncontested lead.

Ginger Gold's trainer, Sid Attard, was disappointed with the result of the Bison City, because a sweep of the series would have earned Ginger Gold a $350,000 bonus.

"She stumbled a little at the break," Attard said. "She made two moves in the race. She opened up three lengths, they made a run at her, and then she opened up another three."

Attard isn't overly concerned with running Ginger Gold long on turf, noting that she relaxed nicely en route to an 8 1/4-length score the only time she tried the grass, in the one-mile Natalma Stakes in September.

"I think she'll be okay," Attard said. "We'll just have to take her back a little."

Silver Nithi won her first stakes in the 1 1/16-mile Bison City, earning a whopping 96 Beyer Speed Figure. She resurfaced just 12 days later here in the July 13 Wilderness Song Stakes, finishing a wide seventh under regular rider Mickey Walls.

Trainer David Bell said he regretted running Silver Nithi back in the Wilderness Song.

"Mickey said she got a little frazzled in the post parade," Bell said. "She never picked up the bridle. She had had a tough race at Fort Erie, and couldn't handle coming back that quickly."

Bell liked the way Silver Nithi worked July 26, when she breezed five-eighths in 1:00.60 on turf, a surface she has yet to compete over.

"She handled it well," he said. "Her pedigree says she'll run all day, and she has some turf in her pedigree too."

Completing the field of Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies are Flashy Thunder, Judge Me Ifyoucan, Bala, Atlantic Fury, Lentil, and the Stronach Stable entry of Hot Talent and Alpha Heat.