Ontario Derby nice spot for Riptide Rock to notch first stakes win

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sunday’s $150,000 Ontario Derby at Woodbine attracted a mixed bag of eight 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on Tapeta.

Riptide Rock will try to land his first stakes in the Grade 3 fixture, after competing in two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown. He was squeezed back early in the 1 1/4-mile Queen’s Plate on Tapeta, and then closed stoutly on the outside from far back to drop a neck decision to favored Safe Conduct.

Riptide Rock bypassed the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie to finish third in the one-mile Toronto Cup Stakes on turf. He was favored in the 1 1/2-mile Breeders’ Stakes on Oct. 3, during which he was outfinished for the win by longshot British Royalty.

Riptide Rock, who beat company in a sharp five-eighths breeze in 1:00.40 last Sunday for trainer Sid Attard, will have Emma-Jayne Wilson aboard Sunday.

“He’s coming into the race in good order,” Attard said. “I think this distance will be perfect for him.”

British Royalty has a maiden win from three starts on Tapeta. He was reclaimed by trainer Barbara Minshall for $40,000 on July 24 after she lost him 13 days earlier for $25,000.

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Trainer Mark Casse sends out Dolder Grand, Frosted Over, and the supplement Swot Analysis.

Late-bloomer Dolder Grand is coming off a fourth in the Grade 3 Seagram Cup. Frosted Over won an allowance route here in his last start.

“I thought Dolder Grand’s last race against older horses was very good,” Casse said. “He definitely likes the Tapeta. Frosted Over can’t run a lick on the dirt, but he loves Tapeta.”

Louisiana-bred Swot Analysis returned from a nine-month layoff to win a seven-furlong allowance comfortably here Oct. 9.

“He’s a good horse,” Casse said. “He won very impressively in Louisiana. We had some issues with him, and he had to have throat surgery. I don’t know if he can go a mile and an eighth. We’re getting him ready for the Fair Grounds.”

◗ Woodbine Oaks winner Munnyfor Ro heads Sunday’s supporting feature, the $125,000 Ontario Damsel Stakes at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-old fillies.

Munnyfor Ro is the leading candidate for Canadian champion 3-year-old filly honors. Her Oaks score and her victory in the Wonder Where Stakes accounted for two-thirds of the Canadian Triple Tiara. Those races sandwiched a respectable fourth in the $1 million Queen’s Plate.

Salty as Can Be is coming off a third in the seven-furlong Duchess Stakes, her first start since notching an allowance off an extended layoff here July 15. She finished up the track in her 2-year-old finale at Churchill.

“She had throat surgery after the race at Churchill,” Casse recalled. “That’s why she was off for so long. She came back and ran well.”