Owlette goes longer in search of third straight stakes win

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The speedy Owlette will be tested for stamina when she goes 1 1/16 miles in Saturday’s $100,000 South Ocean Stakes for Ontario-sired 2-year-old fillies at Woodbine.

Trainer Wesley Ward entered Owlette and Artie’s Princess against the boys in last Saturday’s Frost King Stakes. He scratched Owlette after working her five-eighths, and Artie’s Princess went on to finish a close second as the favorite.

Owlette is unbeaten in three starts, all at Woodbine, since ending up second in her April 17 debut at Keeneland. She won the 5 1/2-furlong Shady Well Stakes on July 27, and the six-furlong Victorian Queen Stakes on Sept. 21 in her last two outings.

“Owlette has had good [race] spacing, and her mind seems more like a pony,” Ward said. “You kind of have to kick her to get her around there. Mind-wise, you would think she would take to the route distance.”

Owlette is by freshman sire Frac Daddy, who won the Grade 2 Eclipse over 1 1/16 miles on the old Polytrack here in 2014. Her female family, however, is mostly speed. Her dam, the front-running stakes winner Itstartswithadream, has produced three stakes-placed sprinters.

The South Ocean goes as the third on an 11-race card.

KEY CONTENDERS

Owlette, by Frac Daddy

Last 3 Beyers: 80-76-76

◗ In a compact six-horse field, she’s capable of shaking loose on the lead.

◗ Ward is known as a speed trainer, but his sprint-to-route numbers are actually quite good. He has won at a 24 percent clip with that angle since the beginning of 2018.

She’s a Dream, by Silent Name

Last 3 Beyers: 61-64-66

◗ She faded to fifth after leading the way in her first two-turn assignment in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes, and a less-aggressive approach may serve her better this time.

◗ Her half-sister Paladin Bay rallied for second behind Lexie Lou in the 2013 South Ocean.

Wake Up Maggie, by Silent Name

Last 3 Beyers: 59-74-70

◗ She chased Owlette home when fourth in the Shady Well and second in the Victorian Queen, and is coming off a distant third in an Ontario-sired allowance sprint.

◗ Her full brother Beer Pressure was second in the 1 1/16-mile Kingarvie Stakes at 2.

◗ Justin Stein will ride her again, and he swept both stakes here last weekend.

Gun Society, by Society’s Chairman

Last 3 Beyers: 68-64-58

◗ Owned, trained and bred by Roger Attfield, she made all five of her starts in open maiden special weight company on the grass, narrowly winning her last race, which came going long on the inner course.

November Fog, by Frac Daddy

Last 3 Beyers: 59-59-30

◗ She graduated over Ontario-sired maidens last time out in her second try around two turns under Patrick Husbands, the meet’s leading stakes rider.