Millie Girl takes on the boys in marathon Valedictory Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Late bloomer Millie Girl will try to become the first filly or mare to win the $150,000 Valedictory Stakes in more than 25 years when she takes on a salty group of males in Sunday’s renewal of the 1 1/2-mile marathon at Woodbine.

Millie Girl won back-to-back Grade 3 stakes against her own sex this fall, beginning with the 1 1/16-mile Ontario Matron. The closer had a fast pace to run at when she rallied extremely wide to take the Maple Leaf most recently with a career-high 93 Beyer Speed Figure. Trainer Catherine Day Phillips said that powerful performance swayed her to try the Valedictory with the 5-year-old daughter of Hard Spun.

“After Millie Girl’s Maple Leaf race at 1 1/4 miles, it seems like 1 1/2 miles is within her range,” Day Phillips explained. “She had a big gallop-out in the Maple Leaf. She’s an amazingly versatile mare.”

The last female to win the former closing-day feature at Woodbine was Stellarina in 1995, when it was run at 1 3/4 miles.

With five victories to his credit, Mark Casse is tied with Lou Cavalaris Jr. for the most training wins in the Grade 3 fixture. He sends out Palazzi, Win for the Money, and Conglomerate among the full field of 14 on Sunday.

Palazzi has been aimed to the Valedictory since finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Canadian International on the grass Oct. 8. He triumphed in each of his three previous outings, including the Grade 3 Singspiel and a conditioned allowance on the Tapeta.

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Win for the Money will try to give jockey Patrick Husbands what would be a record-breaking fifth victory in the race. The 4-year-old wound up fifth in the Grade 1 Arlington Million at Colonial Downs in August and is coming off a wide second going 1 1/16 miles here in the Grade 2 Autumn. His pedigree leans more toward that of a miler than a marathoner.

Conglomerate ran with a $50,000 tag when taking an Oct. 29 conditioned allowance. He was previously fifth behind current rival Meyer in the penultimate leg of the Woodbine Turf Endurance Series.

War Court has been pointed to the Valedictory since the beginning of the meet by trainer Layne Giliforte, who sent him out to win a conditioned allowance/optional claimer in August before finishing a wide fifth in the Grade 3 Durham Cup on Oct. 7.

“He’s a lightly raced horse and we’ve tried to be selective with spots,” Giliforte said. “The distance of the [Valedictory] is something we are excited about.”

War Court is owned by Chiefswood Stables, which also is sending out the Rachel Halden-trained Collective Force. The 5-year-old finished third behind Belmont victor Sir Winston in the 2021 Valedictory and was fifth in last year’s edition.

English Conqueror, a close third in the 2022 Valedictory, has been idle since a distant fifth-place finish in the 1 1/4-mile Canadian International.

The lone shipper in the lineup is So High, a turf specialist from New York who has a synthetic-track score on his record going 1 1/2 miles in England in 2019.

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