Elysian Field Filly by Hard Spun – Elysian, by Smart Strike Bred in Ontario by Anderson Farms ($50,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling purchase by Clinton Road Stable; $70,000 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. June 2-year-old purchase by Bruce Brown, agent) Woodbine Oaks winner Elysian Field is the latest exciting runner from a page that is alive on both sides. Accomplished sire Hard Spun is having a solid season with several exciting stakes horses; meanwhile, this year’s Preakness Stakes winner and other standouts have emerged from this female family. Hard Spun, the sire of 15 Grade/Group 1 winners worldwide, is the sire of multiple graded stakes winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up Two Phil’s, considered one of this year’s best 3-year-olds before injury ended his career. :: 2023 King's Plate: Get odds, comments, analysis, and news for the 164th running of the King's Plate at Woodbine The sire also is represented this season by Loyalty, winner of the Grade 3 Hendrie Stakes in July at Woodbine, and by 2023 stakes winners Evan Sing, Necker Island, Really Good, and Sparkle Blue, in addition to Elysian Field, to help him sit eighth on the North American general sires list. Elysian Field is his fourth stakes winner out of a Smart Strike mare, joining Really Good, Sparkle Blue, and the retired graded stakes-winning marathon runner Rocketry. Elysian was a three-time winner, winning her maiden at a mile on the synthetic track at Presque Isle Downs and then winning allowance races at Presque Isle and on the turf at Parx Racing. She is the dam of two winners from three starters, with Elysian Field her first stakes horse. Elysian’s dam, stakes winner Initiation, is a half-sister to Treasure, a prominent broodmare this season. In addition to Preakness Stakes winner National Treasure, that mare is the dam of stakes winner Ultimate, and of the exciting 2-year-old debut winner Pirate. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.