Last out should help Tribal Belle

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Proud Heiress nosed out favored Tribal Belle for the win last month in the Grade 3 Whimsical Stakes, but the tables will probably be turned when they meet again Sunday at Woodbine in the Grade 3, $150,000 Hendrie Stakes. A 6 1/2-furlong race, the Hendrie has lured six fillies and mares, including Grade 1 winner Dr. Zic.

Tribal Belle was making her first start off a five-month absence in the six-furlong Whimsical. She came wide from a stalking position over an outside-biased track and finished second. The dead-fit Kentucky shipper Proud Heiress rallied down the center of the track and prevailed in 1:09.71, earning a 92 Beyer Figure.

Trainer Terry Jordan, who served a medication suspension in April, said he felt Tribal Belle needed her comeback race.

"She ran hard, but [Proud Heiress] had had a couple of starts, and she had the edge on her," Jordan said. "I hope they both run well this time, with a different outcome. We're very happy with the way that she's been going. I think she'll run good."

Tribal Belle landed the Sovereign Award for champion female sprinter in Canada last year, when she won five of six starts and $360,703. Her most important victories came in the Grade 3 Seaway Stakes and the Ontario Fashion Stakes, in which she earned a career-best 102 Beyer.

"She's a funny horse," Jordan said. "She doesn't show much in the mornings, but in the afternoons, she tries real hard. She's a little bit more aggressive this year than last year."

Tribal Belle will be ridden by Jim McAleney, who teamed with the high-percentage Jordan to take the Grade 3 Vigil Stakes last Sunday with a razor-sharp Hollywood Hit.

Proud Heiress won the six-furlong Wishing Well Stakes for the second year in a row over Turfway's Polytrack in January. She subsequently finished a close second there in the Queen Stakes after hanging in deep stretch.

Chantal Sutherland retains the mount on Proud Heiress, who is trained by Wayne Mogge.

Dr. Zic, a front-runner trained by Joan Scott, has reached full bloom this year at age 4. After capturing a seven-furlong allowance at Tampa in March, she wired a quality field over seven furlongs in the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland.

Kent Desormeaux will ride Dr. Zic, who is the 124-pound highweight.