Lady Grace leads one-two finish for Casse in Royal North

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Mark Casse-trained longshots Lady Grace and Eyeinthesky ran one-two in Saturday’s Grade 2, $175,700 Royal North Stakes at Woodbine.

Lady Grace ($14.80) raced about five lengths back in seventh early in the eight-horse field, as Sister Peacock set fast fractions in the six-furlong sprint on the main turf. Lady Grace mounted a wide rally in the stretch while several others began close the gap on a tiring Sister Peacock, and she got home on top by three-quarters of a length over 11-1 outsider Eyeinthesky.

Bohemian Bourbon finished third, and was followed by Charmaine’s Mia, Sister Peacock, Foxxy Belle, Summer Sunday, and Gamble’s Candy.

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The final time of 1:06.90 was just .02 off Kasuga’s course record.

Kazushi Kimura rode Lady Grace and was also aboard for her front-running win in a recent second-level optional claimer.

“Last time, I went to the front,” Kimura recalled. “Today, there were so many speed horses. I just sat behind. They were flying today.”

By Kantharos, Lady Grace collected $105,000 for owner Tracy Farmer. She gave Casse his third win in the Royal North.

* The Maryland shipper Souper Escape went straight to the front and never looked back to take Saturday’s Grade 3 Trillium with authority under Luis Contreras.

Souper Escape ($7.50) set moderate fractions in the 1 1/16-mile Tapeta route, with Another Time tracking her all of the way. Lukewarm favorite Painting mounted a wide rally from far back in the seven-horse field, but she failed to catch Souper Escape, who prevailed by 4 1/2 lengths after opening up a four-length lead early in the stretch. Another Time finished 3 1/4 lengths behind Painting in third.

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The final time of 1:42.78 was just .61 off Freitag’s synthetic track record.

“She was so nice and relaxed when she came out of the gate,” Contreras said. “When I turned for home, I had so much horse. She just kept rolling.”

Trained by Mike Trombetta, Souper Escape earned $75,000 of the $125,000 purse for Live Oak Plantation. The 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro won her only other Tapeta start here last year under Contreras, the La Lorgnette Stakes.