Paso Doble speeds to victory in New Providence

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The durable millionaire Paso Doble led all the way to capture his 9-year-old debut Sunday in the $125,400 New Providence Stakes at Woodbine.

Paso Doble outran the other speed in the six-furlong sprint and clipped off fractions of 22.18 seconds and 44.47 under Eurico Da Silva. Phil’s Dream, Canada’s champion sprinter in 2013, mounted a wide bid from fourth on the turn, but Paso Doble stayed on through the lane to prevail by 2 3/4 lengths in a time of 1:08.77.

San Nicola Thunder finished third, while the lukewarm favorite Sorry About That faded to sixth in the nine-horse field of Ontario-sired runners.

Paso Doble ($7.90) collected $75,000 for Centennial Farm (Niagara) Inc. and Craig Racing. He is trained by Mark Fournier.

“I was a little bit surprised, when you come off a layoff and run against these kind of horses,” Fournier said, regarding the strong showing put forth by Paso Doble. “But he had been training forwardly, and we were confident he’d run a good race.”