One for Rose rules this rivalry

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - One for Rose and Winning Chance will renew their one-sided rivalry at Woodbine on Sunday in the $131,250 Ontario Matron Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile test for fillies and mares.

One for Rose was voted the 2003 Sovereign Award for champion older female, mainly because of her two convincing stakes triumphs and the three triple-digit Beyer Figures she earned.

One for Rose beat Winning Chance in each of their five meetings last year. Winning Chance was second to One for Rose in four consecutive races in the fall, including in the Grade 3 Maple Leaf Stakes, in which One for Rose received a 110 Beyer.

One for Rose faced males over a sloppy track in her only outing this year, May 24, in the Eclipse Stakes. She stalked the pace on the outside under Todd Kabel in that 1 1/16-mile event and finished nearly eight lengths back in fourth after flattening out in the stretch.

Trainer Sid Attard said circumstances didn't go One for Rose's way in the Grade 3 Eclipse.

"I didn't even want to run her there," Attard said. "It was a heavy track, and she needed the race. I'm not knocking Todd Kabel, but he kind of rushed her a little bit. I wish he would have left her alone and let her run her race."

Emile Ramsammy reacquires the mount on One for Rose in the Matron, and Kabel will ride Winning Chance.

Winning Chance was a stunning winner of the allowance prep for the Matron, coming from just off the pace with a big move on the far turn to win going away. She got a 99 Beyer in the process, but looms a bounce possibility Sunday in her second start off a winter layoff. Danny Vella trains.

Handpainted is the other protagonist in the four-horse field, which also contains Miss Santa Anita.

In her last start here in the Hendrie Handicap, Handpainted was pressed on the lead by a pair of Bob Tiller-trained runners, Winter Garden and Brass in Pocket, before fading to third.

"It didn't work out well at all," said trainer Josie Carroll, referring to Handpainted's trip in the Hendrie. "She really wanted to be combative with the horse inside of her [Brass in Pocket].

"[Winter Garden] was on her heels outside of her, and that was making her more aggressive," said Carroll. "There was just no opportunity for her to relax."

* In Sunday's supporting feature, Alpha Heat goes for her second straight triumph in the $108,000 Zadracarta Stakes.