Katie's Grace gets a drop in class going shorter
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Exiting the ultra-key Breeders’ Stakes, Katie’s Grace should be favored in Saturday’s Woodbine feature, a 1 1/16-mile conditioned allowance for fillies and mares on the main turf.
Trained by Catherine Day-Phillips, Katie’s Grace competed in all three legs of the Canadian Triple Tiara, a lucrative stakes series for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies. After ending up fourth in the July 19 Woodbine Oaks, she won her first stakes in the Aug. 8 Bison City, another Tapeta route, under Ryan Munger.
Katie’s Grace made a smooth transition to the grass Sept. 6 in the 1 1/4-mile Wonder Where. After racing 10 lengths off the pace, she rallied outside to finish a close second to Dixie Law after dueling with that rival through the final furlong.
“Being out of a Kitten’s Joy mare, I was excited to get her on the grass,” Day-Phillips said. “She might have been a little bit green, losing a little focus down the lane. She got herself sorted out and dug in and ran a great race.”
Katie’s Grace was favored when traveling 1 1/2 miles against the boys in the Sept. 26 Breeders’, the anchor leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. After racing far off a slow pace, she made her way into contention on the far turn before flattening out late to finish fifth among four next-out winners.
Fire and Wine, the gate-to-wire Breeders’ victor, subsequently beat a quality field in the Grade 3 Ontario Derby. Bond Market, Buium, and Imyourmedicineman filled out the super in the Breeders’ and all three came right back to score.
Talent Show could be the main threat to Katie’s Grace as the probable second choice in the betting.
Talent Show was a claiming type on the Tapeta before trainer Debra Rombis moved her to the turf Sept. 20. She won a $7,500 starter allowance by a nose after a troubled trip that day and then doubled up in a first-level allowance/optional claimer going 1 1/16 miles on main course Oct. 4.
Rombis said the 4-year-old wasn’t at her best during the summer on the Tapeta, and the switch to the grass coincided with her turnaround. The hot trainer also felt the daughter of Maximum Security is at her best on the sprawling main course.
“The outer turf, I believe, is to her liking a little more as she has more room to get a clearer trip than she got in any of her previous races, on Tapeta and the inner turf,” Rombis said.
Trainer Mark Casse sends out Vanity and War Signal in the seventh race.
Vanity won her last two outings on the Tapeta, a seven-furlong maiden special and an allowance route under Emma-Jayne Wilson. Her turf form during the summer in Kentucky was mediocre at best.
War Signal has started just once since the spring on Aug. 14, when she was promoted from fourth to third by disqualification in a seven-furlong allowance on the main turf.
◗ Post time for the 11-race card is earlier than usual at 12:30 p.m.
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