Go four deep to start pick 7

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - A pick seven carryover of $20,120 will spice up an otherwise dreary eight-race card on Wednesday evening at Woodbine.

The first leg of the pick seven is the featured second race, a nine-furlong Ontario-sired grass allowance for fillies and mares. It can probably be pared down to four contenders, including Ifbutmaybewhen.

Ifbutmaybewhen broke very slowly when she debuted in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special on the grass for Ontario-sired fillies and mares in June. She moved up into contention on the turn, and then closed strongly through the stretch to win by a neck in an impressive performance.

Ifbutmaybewhen was entered in an open first-level allowance July 22, and remained in the field when the race was moved from the turf to a sloppy main track. She tracked the leader until the far turn, before fading to trail a four-horse field.

Ifbutmaybewhen worked a bullet half-mile over the turf training course just prior to her last race, and should be ideally suited to 1 1/8 miles on the grass. Garry Cruise has the mount for trainer Earl Barnett, a combination that is 2 for 11 at the meeting.

The other possibilities in Wednesday's feature are Dame Eliza, Elegant Effort, and To the Brim.

Dame Eliza showed little in her first two outings of the year on the main track, but woke up dramatically when she switched to the grass for a one-mile allowance July 1. She raced 10 lengths off the early pace under Jono Jones, before charging down the center of the course to lose by a nose. The winner, Arctic Laur, subsequently beat Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies in the Passing Mood Stakes.

Dame Eliza, who finished fourth in the restricted La Prevoyante Stakes last September, could be peaking for trainer John LeBlanc Jr.

Elegant Effort saved ground in her season opener when third behind Arctic Laur and Dame Eliza. She won her maiden over several next-out winners going 1 1/8 miles in November under apprentice Emma-Jayne Wilson, who will get a leg up from trainer Mark Frostad on Wednesday.

To the Brim showed some promise early in her 2-year-old season, when she finished a close second in the Nandi Stakes. She went downhill after that, but ran second in three consecutive maiden special weight routes in the spring and early summer this year.

To the Brim finally won her maiden in her 11th start over a mediocre field July 21, which was her first grass attempt.