Ontario Lassie to help point Dixie Moon in right direction

ETOBICOKE, Ontario -–Dixie Moon will make her first start since her sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in Sunday’s $125,000 Ontario Lassie Stakes for Ontario-bred 2-year-old fillies over 1 1/16-miles on Tapeta at Woodbine.

Dixie Moon stumbled at the start of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 4, but recovered well to finish sixth, just 3 3/4 lengths behind winner Rushing Fall.

“She was kind of thrown off her game from the minute the gate opened,” trainer Catherine Day Phillips said. “She never got into her big, long stride. It is what it is. That’s horse racing.”

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Day Phillips said Dixie Moon handled the ship back to Woodbine well, and has been showing she wants to get back to racing action.

“She’s doing well,” she said. “We weren’t really expecting to run her again this year, but she seemed to be looking for more, so here we are.”

Dixie Moon will make her first start on Tapeta since her career debut over seven furlongs back on Aug. 19, which she won by 1 1/2 lengths. Between her debut and the Breeders’ Cup, she finished second, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the Grade 1 Natalma, and beat males in the Cup and Saucer.

Day Phillips said this start will allow she and owners Sean and Dorothy Fitzhenry to gauge Dixie Moon’s ability on Tapeta, with races like the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks ahead next season.

“There are a lot of races here that are very important that are on the Tapeta,” she said. “I think we need to find out where we’re at with that. She handled it fine in her first start and we know she loves the turf. This is a good way to evaluate whether we need to be aiming for a turf campaign or go the Canadian route here.”

Key Contenders

Dixie Moon, by Curlin

Last 3 Beyers: 77-75-74

◗ Dixie Moon will carry the high weight of 123 pounds in the Ontario Lassie as the only stakes winner in the field.

Queen’s Fate, by Artie Schiller

Beyers: 71-60

◗ She’ll make her synthetic debut in the Ontario Lassie following her maiden win on turf at Keeneland back on Oct. 21, and could find herself up close to the pace after drawing the rail.

Lunar Garden, by Malibu Moon

Beyers: 68-60

◗ She has run twice and was beaten a neck in her debut and a head in her most recent start on Nov. 18. She led until the final strides of that 1 1/16-mile route on Tapeta, won by A. A. Azula’s Arch.

Gosudarina, by Court Vision

Last 3 Beyers: 62-57-45

◗ She finished second in her stakes debut in the South Ocean Stakes on Nov. 15, just 11 days after winning her maiden with a strong stretch rally in a seven-furlong sprint.