Minshall, Katryan hold the cards in first 2-year-old allowance of meet

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainers Barbara Minshall and Abraham Katryan will send out four of the six entrants in the first 2-year-old allowance race of the Woodbine meet on Friday. The 6 1/2-furlong Tapeta sprint has a $75,000 claiming option and carries a base purse of $74,000.

Minshall runs probable favorites Two Ghosts and Pontiac.

Two Ghosts fought for the lead in his June 18 debut before fading to fifth behind My Boy Prince, who subsequently romped in the restricted Simcoe Stakes before ending up second in the Grade 1 Summer. The race also contained future maiden special victor Four Strong Winds.

After finishing fifth in another maiden special on July 30, Two Ghosts graduated from off the pace with a 68 Beyer Speed Figure in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special on Aug. 27. The son of Ghostzapper has since worked twice on the dirt training track, including three-eighths in a bullet 36 seconds last Saturday.

Going back five years, Minshall has won at a 6 percent rate with 2-year-olds exiting a maiden score, with a return on investment of 26 cents.

Pontiac rallied outside from fifth to beat Ontario-sired and $40,000 maidens at second asking in July. The son of Exaggerator had a wide trip when a well-beaten eighth most recently in the Soaring Free Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong main turf sprint.

Emma-Jayne Wilson retains the mount on Two Ghosts, and the hot apprentice Sofia Vives rides Pontiac for the first time on Friday.

Katryan, Woodbine’s leading trainer in 2000, saddles Natural Star and Classy Image.

Natural Star was a bargain $10,000 yearling buy at the 2022 OBS October yearling sale. He benefited from an inside bias when second behind runaway winner Meko Makee while starting for the first time on the Tapeta on Aug. 19.

When switching to the inner turf at the same Ontario-sired/$40,000 level two weeks later, Natural Star broke slowly before mounting a wide bid from fourth to prevail with a 58 Beyer.

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Classy Image made her debut a winning one over $25,000 maidens on Aug. 27. Sent off at 5-1, she darted out to a clear lead and never looked back to win the five-furlong dash with a 61 Beyer.

Katryan has a 6 percent strike rate with horses coming off a maiden win during the past five years, with an ROI of $1.16.

Eswan Flores stays aboard Natural Star, and leading rider Kazushi Kimura inherits the mount from the injured Jose Campos on Classy Image. Both compete with the $75,000 tag.

Rounding out the field are fillies Crafty Oaks and Uphill Dancer.

Crafty Oaks finished fifth in the My Dear Stakes and ninth in the Catch a Glimpse after winning her June 3 opener at 29-1.

Uphill Dancer is adding Lasix off a front-running debut win on Aug. 5, when she earned a 60 Beyer.

Post time for the eight-race program is 1:15 p.m.

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