Golden Hawk dominates Grey Stakes
ETOBICOKE, Ontario—Golden Hawk established himself as Woodbine’s leading 2-year-old male with an easy 5 1/4-length score in Sunday’s $153,300 Grey Stakes.
With Patrick Husbands aboard, Golden Hawk ($3.20) assumed command early on the backstretch in the 1 1/16-mile route. He set honest fractions of 24.51 seconds, 48.60, and 1:12.85, before drawing off in the stretch to prevail in a quick final time of 1:43.38.
Kentucky shipper Han Sense outran King and His Court for second, and then survived a stewards’ inquiry to maintain that position. He was followed by Night Watchman and Preemptive Strike, who was steadied on the backstretch.
Golden Hawk, a striking son of leading sire Tapit, won his only other outing in a seven-furlong maiden special on grass.
“His last two breezes since his first race, he showed that he’s ratable,” said Husbands. “Today, I just let him run away from there. He pricked his ears, and I just had everything my way. It was a small field, and I didn’t want him to get trapped, so I just let him run away from there. He’s a nice horse.”
The victory was the fourth in the Grade 3 Grey for Mark Casse, who trains Golden Hawk for Live Oak Plantation.