'Highlight' and 'Rose' to clash

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wonder Where Stakes winner Silver Highlight will clash with the promising Irish-bred filly Stunning Rose in Friday's superb Woodbine feature, a 1 3/8-mile allowance on the grass.

After shipping here from England, Silver Highlight won her maiden July 31 in 1 1/4-mile Wonder Where, the third leg of the Canadian triple tiara. Invitational, the Wonder Where runner-up, came back for a five-length victory in allowance company, and the eighth-place finisher in that restricted race, Whiskey and Low, subsequently won the Eternal Search Stakes.

Silver Highlight is eligible for this first-level allowance because of the "nonwinners-of-two" clause in the conditions. Formerly trained by Andrew Balding, she is now trained by Ed Freeman at Fort Erie, where she breezed a bullet five-eighths on Aug. 20 and 27. Her most recent work was six furlongs in 1:16 on Sunday.

Robert Landry will ride Silver Highlight, who is making her second start with Lasix.

Stunning Rose trounced her nine opponents here three weeks ago under Todd Kabel when she debuted going 1 1/16 miles on the grass, winning by a widening six lengths, with a Beyer Speed Figure of 84.

Stunning Rose is by Europe's most popular sire, Sadler's Wells, out of Grade 2 Schuylerville Stakes winner Golden Reef. She is owned by Stronach Stable and trained by Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel, who is 5 for 13 at the meeting when using Kabel.

The others, who appear to be running for third money, are Sweetgum, Nomistakeaboutit, Jeanne's Honor, and Mountain Mystery.

Sweetgum, fifth in the six-furlong Zadracarta Stakes in June, is coming off back-to-back second-place finishes in shorter allowances. She figures to set the pace Friday, at a distance that seems just beyond her range.

Nomistakeaboutit, claimed from her third-last outing for $40,000, was most recently a closing third behind Invitational and Sweetgum going 1 1/8 miles. She ran third going about 1 1/4 miles over this course in allowance company a little more than a year ago.

Jeanne's Honor was a fast-closing second when she returned from a layoff in a July 9 allowance sprint. Her two subsequent efforts, in the Ontario Colleen Handicap and the prep for that stakes, were both mediocre.