Pender Harbour looks to double up in Friday feature

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Pender Harbour won for the first time since October 2012 when he opened his 2014 campaign April 18, and he’ll be looking to double up in the Friday optional-claiming feature, which drew five others.

“He’s doing real good,” said trainer Michael De Paulo. “He was going to run in the Eclipse prep [last Saturday], but he didn’t work that well, and we found out he had a little problem with a tooth. So, we straightened that out, and he seems to be doing quite well right now.”

Meeting Pender Harbour in the seven-furlong sprint is the Mark Casse-trained pair of Dynamic Sky and Patrioticandproud.

Dynamic Sky was never a threat in a 6 1/2-furlong optional-claiming race at Keeneland on April 10 and was scratched from the Vigil Stakes. Patrioticandproud will be making his first start since the Grade 3 Seagram Cup last August and shows a steady work tab since late March.

Say No More is coming into this race off a fourth-place finish in the Jacques Cartier Stakes on April 13. The third-place finisher from that race, Really Sharp, came back to win the Vigil.

Run to the Bank won his 2014 debut in a non-winners-of-two allowance over 5 1/2 furlongs on April 19 and now stretches out to seven furlongs, a distance where he has never failed to hit the board in six career starts.

Rounding out the field is Northern Hammer, who impressed in a seven-furlong starter allowance during opening weekend before finishing seventh in an optional claimer in his last start.