Notorious Gangster's outside move pays off in Coronation Futurity

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Notorious Gangster collared favorites Dewolf and Ashley’s Archer in deep stretch to win the 120th running of the $251,000 Coronation Futurity on Saturday at Woodbine.

Notorious Gangster ($22.30) raced in mid-pack in the two-path over an outside-favoring track in the nine-furlong test for Canadian-bred 2-year-olds. Forty N Five set a moderate pace before being overtaken by a stalking Ashley’s Archer on the far turn, where Dewolf loomed four-wide into contention.

Dewolf and Ashley’s Archer slugged it out through the stretch as Notorious Gangster shifted from the rail to the outside at the eighth pole before scoring by two lengths, in a time of 1:52.70.

Favored Dewolf edged out Ashley’s Archer for second. Faber, Kekoa, Conacher, Forty N Five, Scuderia, Ylivoimainen and Armino completed the order of finish in the 10-horse field.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

Fraser Aebly rode Notorious Gangster, a son of Classic Empire, in all four of his starts for owner/breeder Mark Dodson and trainer Josie Carroll.

“He’s improved a ton,” Aebly said. “Every time I get on this horse, he’s gotten better and better and better. Josie and I figured that he’d want to go two turns, since his first couple starts, and he’s relaxed really nice for me.”

*** Aristella ($21.30) wore down the front-running Ready for Candy in the stretch to take the $251,500 Princess Elizabeth Stakes for Canadian-bred juvenile fillies.

Aristella covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:48.78 while winning by a half-length under Patrick Husbands. Crystal Visions finished third and 4-5 favorite Shifty ran fourth in the 11-horse field.

Aristella graduated three races ago and was exiting a seventh-place finish in the Grade 3 Mazarine. The Rachel Halden-trained daughter of More Than Ready is owned by Flying Zee Racing Stables.

“She was actually the only filly in the whole race who had won around two turns already,” Halden pointed out. “That was encouraging. Her last race was actually a solid effort in a graded stakes. The filly was doing well. We felt very good about everything coming into it today.

“The plan is to (send her) to Winstar Farm for the winter. She’ll get a little bit of a break and start back up in the new year. I’m looking forward to next summer.”

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.