Just Rushing looking for big finish

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Just Rushing led the Woodbine meet last year in races won, with 7 in 11 starts and earnings of $301,856.

And while Just Rushing has been less productive this season, he has finished out of the money just once in seven starts, six of them coming in stakes - and he's earned another $196,539.

Just Rushing also became a graded stakes winner in his season debut, taking the Grade 3 Vigil at seven furlongs, and will be looking to close out his campaign on a winning note here in Sunday's Grade 3, $125,000 Kennedy Road.

A 6-year-old gelding who races for Tucci Stable and trainer Sid Attard, Just Rushing will be shortening up to six furlongs and drew the inside post for the Kennedy Road.

"He's such a nice horse; he doesn't care," said Attard, regarding the cutback in distance. "I wish he was outside a little bit, but what can you do?"

Just Rushing dumped regular rider Emma-Jayne Wilson during a work last Sunday, Attard said. Just Rushing was collared by an outrider.

Attard will send out a second Kennedy Road runner in Gantu, a homebred 3-year-old gelding who races for Bob Harvey. Gantu is 4 for 7 this year and is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Kennedy Road prep.

Wilson has ridden Gantu in all nine of his starts, but Jerry Baird will inherit the mount on Sunday.

Gangster: What if?

Attard had another solid sprinter in the barn this year in Gangster, who is owned by Goldmart Farm. Gangster finished in a dead heat for second in the 2005 Kennedy Road, and took home second money on his own in the Kennedy Road last year.

Gangster won the 6 1/2-furlong Bold Venture in his third start this year here on July 22, but it turned out to be his last race of the year.

"He came up with a suspensory problem," said Attard. "I hope he'll be back next year."

Initiation bears watching

While most of the attention in Sunday's Glorious Song will be on the clash between Shilla and Dancing Allstar and its potential Sovereign Award ramifications, the invader Initiation will be looking to crash the party.

Initiation, a Kentucky-bred who is owned by Augustin Stable and trained by Graham Motion, will be making only her third start. She has been working well for Motion at his Fair Hill, Md., base.

"I was pretty encouraged by her right from the get-go, when we first started breezing her," said Motion.

Initiation won her maiden by 10 lengths in a six-furlong dash at Laurel on Sept. 5. A month later, she stretched out to 1o1/16 miles and ran fourth in the Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland.

"Obviously, she won pretty handily at Laurel, and that encouraged us to run her at Keeneland," said Motion. "That was a big step up."

He said he entered Initiation in the Alcibiades to gauge her suitability for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

"I didn't want to find out a month after the Breeders' Cup that she was that good," Motion said. "As it turned out, she ran very well - but I don't think she ran the type of race where I was prepared to throw her in the deep end and run her in the Breeders' Cup."

Initiation will be cutting back to seven furlongs Sunday, but Motion believes she will adapt.

"I don't think that will be a problem for her," he said. "She's a filly that has a pretty good turn of foot. She's pretty quick.

"The timing of this race was good, and this is just a very logical progression for her."

Initiation will be ridden by Jeremy Rose, who rode Globetrotter to victory for Motion in the Grade 3 Grey here Oct. 8.

* Steve Lym, Woodbine's racing secretary, will be in Hong Kong early next month for the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings Conference.