Grey Society tries out turf, where she was bred to race, on Thursday
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Grey Society switches to a surface that she’s bred to handle in Thursday’s fourth race at Woodbine, a 1 1/16-mile maiden special on the inner turf. She’s one of several fillies in the eight-horse field with good grass breeding.
Owned, bred, and trained by popular Hall of Famer Roger Attfield, Grey Society debuted in an Ontario-sired maiden route that was taken off the turf and moved to the Tapeta in October. Sent off at 10-1, she checked in third behind Mumblebee and the next-out winner Strega.
Grey Society got the winter off at the Payson Park training center in Florida and returned to action in an open maiden special here May 21. Over a speed-favoring Tapeta, she raced three wide on both turns en route to finishing a distant third.
Grey Society is by the 18 percent turf sire Society’s Chairman, a graded turf stakes winner trained by Attfield. Her full sister, Gun Society, won the South Ocean Stakes on the Tapeta and was second in two turf stakes at Woodbine for Attfield.
Antonio Gallardo retains the mount on Grey Society, who’s making her first start with Lasix, a 10 percent angle for Attfield going back five years.
Mystical Journey was a well-beaten seventh in her May 15 debut on the Tapeta for trainer Mark Casse, who has a 14 percent strike rate with first-time grass runners during the past five years. The daughter of 12 percent turf sire Curlin is a full sister to turf winner F F Rocket, and her dam produced one other grass winner.
Longshot Retail Therapist finished on the fringes in all three of her Tapeta races. Her sire, Breeders’ Cup Mile victor Tourist, has gotten 16 percent turf winners, and her dam produced two grass winners, including Queens Embrace who was victorious in a lucrative Claiming Crown event at Gulfstream. Her trainer, Sylvain Pion, is 2 for 13 with first-time turf runners over the last five years, with a big return on investment of $11.06.
Swoop to Finish, one of the last horses campaigned by Sam-Son Farm, has the best turf race among any of these, a slow-starting second in her six-furlong debut July 31. She went to the sidelines after a poor showing as the favorite in a seven-furlong maiden special a month later and was a non-threatening fifth in her April 30 comeback on the Tapeta.
Trainer Gail Cox is adding blinkers to Swoop to Finish’s equipment. The nicely bred daughter of American Pharoah is a full sister to the late-blooming allowance runner Youens, who found her niche on the grass this year.
Like Grey Society, Swoop to Finish is nominated to the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks here July 24.
Post time for the first of seven races on Thursday is 5:05 p.m.