Millie Girl will get more distance in Maple Leaf

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Catherine Day Phillips has opted to run the wonderfully versatile Millie Girl in the Grade 3 Maple Leaf going 1 1/4 miles over the shorter Grade 2 Bessarabian on Saturday at Woodbine, a decision that wasn’t a no-brainer.

Stretch-running Millie Girl won her season opener in allowance company on Tapeta before finishing third in back-to-back turf Grade 2 turf stakes, the 6 1/2-furlong Royal North and behind Fev Rover and Moira in the one-mile Nassau.

After a summer break, Millie Girl ran second in the Grade 3 Seaway on Sept. 17 over the seven-furlong distance of the Bessarabian. She won her first stakes most recently going 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 3 Ontario Matron with Rafael Hernandez aboard.

“The Ontario Matron gave us an indication of how she is going two turns,” Day Phillips said. “She handled it well and had a big gallop-out. Though she looks quite dominant at seven-eighths, she’s also good going longer. I discussed it with Raffie and he felt the farther, the better. Coming off a 1 1/16-mile race, I think it makes sense to keep heading in that direction.”

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Day Phillips said the Hard Spun mare took some time to reach her potential.

“She’s been a neat horse to be around,” Day Phillips explained. “She had little things that came up along the way. She didn’t race at 2 or 3. So now we have a lightly raced 5-year-old, which is not a bad thing, either. She’s really only figuring it out. She likes to train. She likes the attention. She got a lot of confidence off that last win.”

The $150,000 Maple Leaf lured 12 others, including the supplements Talbeyah and Ever Smart, along with 2022 winner Il Malocchio.

Top duo clash in Bessarbian

The $175,000 Bessarabian could help determine Canadian champion female sprinter honors between Our Flash Drive and Loyalty, who both seem past their peak.

Our Flash Drive took the Royal North and the Grade 3 Whimsical in the spring before tailing off. Loyalty captured the Grade 3 Hendrie in July before a flat fourth as the favorite in the Grade 2 Presque Isle Downs Masters.

Spun Glass and Awesome Treat ran one-two here Oct. 14 in the Grade 3 Ontario Fashion while leaving Our Flash Drive and Loyalty in their wake. Both are in the 14-horse Bessarabian field.

Maryland-based Spun Glass came from eighth to win the six-furlong Fashion with a career-high 93 Beyer Speed Figure. The Bessarabian will be the first seven-furlong start for the 6-year-old, who has been campaigned primarily as a turf sprinter.

Awesome Treat has gone back and forth between Canada and the U.S. and is trained by Steve Attard when at Woodbine. She was beaten just a half-length in the Fashion and was a surprising fourth behind Our Flash Drive, Hazelbrook, and Loyalty in last year’s Bessarabian. Attard has tremendous admiration for the 5-year-old.

“I wasn’t surprised at all with that effort last time,” Attard said. “That’s her – a hard-trying mare who always shows up.”

Miss Dracarys, who was victorious over Moira in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly on the grass in August, is making her first start on synthetics for Neil Drysdale, who also trains Ever Smart.

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