London Tower draws off in Ontario Lassie Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – London Tower ($3.80) went to the front and kept on going to take the $150,000 Ontario Lassie Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths at Woodbine on Sunday.

With Emma-Jayne Wilson aboard, London Tower set moderate fractions in the 1 1/16-mile route for Ontario-bred 2-year-old fillies. Galina Point, the 8-5 second choice, made an early move into second approaching the far turn but couldn’t catch London Tower, who drew off in the lane to prevail in 1:44.73.

“I thought if I could get away with an easy-enough half, then if I needed to, I could use her for that third quarter and gain myself a couple lengths through the turn,” Wilson said. “That’s kind of what happened. We were engaged down the backside, but it was such an easy half. When I just let her out a notch going into the turn, I knew I had a lot of horse with a lot of gears.”

London Tower earned $90,000 in her first stakes victory for owner/trainer Steve Owens.

Wanna Win finished a distant third in a field reduced to five with the scratch of Shez a Masterpiece. There was no show wagering.