Military Time, Fire and Wine battle for divisional supremacy in Ontario Derby

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Divisional honors for Canadian champion male 3-year-old could be on the line in Saturday’s Grade 3 Ontario Derby at Woodbine when Military Time clashes with Fire and Wine in the nine-furlong Tapeta event worth $175,000.

Military Time left the tiring front-runner Fire and Wine back in third while filling out the exacta behind Woodbine Oaks winner Luster in the Aug. 15 King’s Plate. Military Time went on the take the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes on the dirt at Fort Erie, during which Fire and Wine got fried in a speed duel.

Fire and Wine led all the way in the anchor leg of the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Stakes on the turf here Sept. 27, which Military Time bypassed. Prior to the 1 1/2-mile Breeders’, Fire and Wine hadn’t won since his gate-to-wire score over Military Time in the 1 1/8-mile Coronation Futurity in late November.

“That horse can run,” trainer Zeljko Krcmar said of Fire and Wine. “When somebody hooks [up with him], he is a chicken, but in front, he’s as brave as they make them.”

A beautifully bred son of Gun Runner, Military Time worked five furlongs in a bullet 1:01 on the Tapeta on Oct. 1. He should be favored under Fraser Aebly.

“He breezed real well the other day,” trainer Mark Casse said. “He should run well.”

Among the seven other 3-year-olds in the lineup are Brachetto and the shippers Bull by the Horns and Western Warrior.

Brachetto wasn’t a factor during a wide trip over an inside-favoring track in the King’s Plate. He rallied for second in the Sept. 7 Prince of Wales, much to the delight of trainer Julia Carey.

“It was a great effort,” Carey said. “We were jumping up and down, let me tell you. He was on the toughest part of the track, down along the inside, which was the deepest part, but he dug in and was very brave. He was a little tired after that one, so that’s why we decided [to skip] the Breeders’ Stakes.”

Ontario Fashion

Creed’s Gold heads a diverse field of 10 fillies and mares in Saturday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Ontario Fashion.

Creed’s Gold has been sidelined since winning the Grade 3 Hendrie for the second year in a row here July 25, for which she got a big 97 Beyer Speed Figure under Rafael Hernandez. Casse said she was scratched from the Grade 3 Seaway on Aug. 22 due to a foot problem.

“She pulled her shoe off a couple of days prior and she stepped on it,” Casse recalled. “We soaked her foot – we did everything, but she just wasn’t 100 percent. The good news is she’s fine now. She’s trained back and has been doing well.”

Les Reys, based at Belmont with trainer Miguel Clement, won the six-furlong Ontario Fashion last year with an 89 Beyer. Winless in the interim, she’s exiting a respectable third in the Grade 2 Presque Isle Masters behind Reagan’s Flame, who was previously victorious in the Seaway after ending up third in the Hendrie.