Gretzky the Great goes for second straight stakes score in Toronto Cup

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Gretzky the Great got back on track with a gutsy score in the Greenwood Stakes. The reigning Canadian champion male 2-year-old will try to double up in Sunday’s $125,000 Toronto Cup, one of two stakes on the Woodbine card along with the $100,000 Belle Mahone.

Victorious in last year’s Grade 1 Summer on the turf, Gretzky the Great finished third and fifth in two Tapeta stakes during the winter at Turfway before heading to the sidelines.

“He missed a little bit of time with a quarter crack,” said trainer Mark Casse.

Gretzky the Great won the seven-furlong Greenwood here Aug. 14 after putting away the other speed and then holding off two closers. He’s sticking to the grass on Sunday, where he’ll meet eight other 3-year-olds going a mile on the main course.

Riptide Rock, a fast-closing second in the Aug. 22 Queen’s Plate, passed up Tuesday’s second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie, because it’s contested on dirt.

In an unconventional prep, Riptide Rock was coming off a six-furlong allowance victory heading into the 1 1/4-mile Plate.

Trainer Sid Attard said he wasn’t surprised by the gelding’s Plate performance.

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“With a little luck, he could have gotten there,” Attard said. “He got pinched back early and had to go nine wide. He ran huge. I was so proud of him.”

Riptide Rock won his only turf start in a six-furlong maiden special here in October, after which he wintered at Oaklawn.

Artie’s Storm is another obvious contender. Trained by Paul Buttigieg, he was a wide-closing third in the Greenwood, beaten just a head in his first start since winning a 1 1/16-mile Ontario-sired allowance July 24.

◗ Casse sends out Crystal Glacier, Skygaze, and Art of Almost in 1 1/16-mile Belle Mahone for fillies and mares on the main track.

Crystal Glacier dropped a nose decision to last year’s Canadian champion older female Souper Escape two back over 1 1/16 miles on the Tapeta in the Grade 3 Trillium. She reaffirmed her aversion for the grass most recently when finishing 10th in the Grade 3 Nassau.

Skygaze has been freshened since finishing a wide third in the June 26 Trillium. She won her three previous outings, all in allowance company, a streak that included two 1 1/16-mile tallies over the winter at Turfway.

Art of Almost ended a long drought July 24 when annexing a conditioned allowance in her fourth start for Casse. She was beaten just a half-length when second to front-running Summer Sunday in last year’s Belle Mahone.

Fate Factor ships in from Arlington for trainer Chris Block after notching her last start in a mile turf allowance at Indiana Grand.