Katie's Grace should relish turf in Wonder Where
:quality(75))
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Katie’s Grace will take her talents to the main turf on Sunday at Woodbine in the $350,000 Wonder Where Stakes, the 1 1/4-mile anchor leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.
Trained by Catherine Day-Phillips, Katie’s Grace finished a distant fourth behind the future King’s Plate winner Luster in the opening leg of the series, the 1 1/8-mile Woodbine Oaks. Katie’s Grace then put it all together, winning her first stakes in the middle leg of the series going 1 1/16 miles in the Bison City, during which she rallied from fifth to score by two lengths with an 88 Beyer Speed Figure.
“She ran a great race and showed her ability to be a strong stretch runner,” Day-Phillips said. “We were all thrilled with the effort she showed on that day.”
Katie’s Grace is by Independence Hall, who’s not known for his turf progeny but is the sire of Chaos Agent, the winner of the Toronto Cup Stakes on the inner course last weekend. She’s out of a mare by Kitten’s Joy, a onetime leading turf sire in North America.
“I think the added distance will suit her and she should enjoy the long stretch of the [main turf] course,” Day-Phillips said. “As a Kitten’s Joy offspring, she should enjoy the turf. I love the [main] turf and we are delighted to be back on it.”
The six-horse field also includes multiple stakes winner Dixie Law, along with the Chiefswood Stables-owned Not This Time fillies Cool Times and Bold Time.
Trained by Dale Desruisseaux, Dixie Law has run consistently well on the Tapeta this year, taking the Ruling Angel Stakes in her season opener before finishing third in the Grade 3 Selene, second in the Oaks, and fourth in the Plate. Last year, Dixie Law won on debut in a six-furlong maiden special weight on the main turf. She went on to finish sixth in the Grade 1 Natalma and then beat the boys in the restricted Cup and Saucer Stakes, both going on the inner turf.
Cool Times has made all three of her starts on Tapeta, winning her maiden by 9 3/4 lengths with a 79 Beyer in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight on July 25. Not This Time, North America’s runaway leading turf sire in progeny earnings this year, has produced 16 percent winners in grass routes.
Trainer Katerina Vassilieva believes Cool Times has license to stay the distance.
“Based on her last race, I’d like to think she doesn’t have distance limitations,” Vassilieva said. “Like many of the Chiefswood horses, she has the breeding to go long.”
The Josie Carroll-trained Bold Time finished a well-beaten fourth when coming off the sidelines the only time she tried the grass in an April 9 allowance at Keeneland. She rode a live rail when second in the Bison City after a fading third in the Oaks.
Completing the Wonder Where lineup are Ashlee B and La Culasse.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.