Not Bourbon, Stuck in Traffic meet in rubber match

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wednesday's $125,000 Frost King Stakes at Woodbine will be the rubber match between stakes winners Not Bourbon and Stuck in Traffic.

Not Bourbon will likely be favored in the seven-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds off his Polytrack record-breaking performance in another Ontario sire stakes, the Bull Page. He ran six furlongs in 1:08.84 in the Bull Page, a record which has since been surpassed, and got an 86 Beyer Speed Figure.

Not Bourbon closed from midpack to end up second in his penultimate outing, in an allowance in which he was rated.

"We wanted to get him to relax, because we want him to go two turns eventually," said trainer Roger Attfield. "He did that very well, and didn't quite get up, but at least we got him to relax, and it paid off nicely in his next race. Now, he's got to go seven, and if he does this, we'll go on to the Kingarvie, and we'll know if he can handle two turns before we put him away for the winter."

The Kingarvie, a 1 1/16-mile Ontario sire stakes, will be run on Dec. 1.

Not Bourbon defeated Stuck in Traffic in the Bull Page, and was third behind Stuck in Traffic in the six-furlong Vandal Stakes in August.

Stuck in Traffic, a front-runner trained by Nick Gonzalez, got a 79 Beyer when winning the Vandal over a speed-favoring track. He was overtaken by the unbeaten Bear Holiday in deep stretch when second in the Aug. 25 Silver Deputy Stakes, and was returning from a seven-week layoff in the Bull Page on Oct. 13.

Gonzalez said he entered Stuck in Traffic in a recent overnight stakes, the Sunny's Halo, which failed to fill.

"That surprised me," said Gonzalez. "I would rather have run him six and a half."

Gonzalez believes the Frost King distance could be within Stuck in Traffic's range.

"I think he's going to be all right going seven furlongs," Gonzalez explained. "We breezed him the other morning, and he's relaxing a lot better now. He's been growing so much, and as he's gotten older, he's matured. I'm just hoping that he'll settle down one day and be as good a horse as I think he could be."

Grazettes Landing got wiped out at the break before rallying for third in his only start in a six-furlong maiden special.

"I like him a lot," said trainer Mark Casse. "I think he's one of the better colts I have. I think he'll like the added ground."