Perhaps Tonight goes for fourth straight in turf allowance

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Perhaps Tonight made quite a splash capturing her Woodbine debut and is shooting for her fourth straight win in Saturday’s feature. The conditioned allowance/optional claimer drew a mixed bag of fillies and mares who will race over 1 1/16 miles on the main turf course.

A well-traveled Irish-bred, Perhaps Tonight found the mark in both of her starts traveling a mile during the winter at Gulfsteam. Trainer Marty Drexler ran her with a $32,000 claiming tag at the first allowance level here May 27, when she mounted an eye-catching rally from seventh to win going away as the favorite with a career-high 84 Beyer Speed Figure.

On Saturday, Perhaps Tonight competes with a $50,000 tag for trainer Bill Tharrenos, who claimed her out of the May 27 race. He has won at a 14 percent clip off a claim during the last five years, with a return on investment of 84 cents. Ryan Munger, a fresh new face in the local jockey colony from South Africa, will ride the 5-year-old.

Among the others in the eight-horse field are Ready Lady, Whimsical Dance, Lady Moonshine, and Toeris.

Ready Lady took one of seven outings last year for trainer Roger Attfield. The 4-year-old ran third in a conditioned allowance/optional claimer on Jan. 29 at Gulfstream. Coming off a three-month break in a 1 1/8-mile, second-level allowance on April 22 at Keeneland, she stalked the leaders in fourth, dropped back on the far turn, and then came on belatedly for sixth. Victorious Lovely Princess subsequently ran second in a listed stakes at Churchill.

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Emma-Jayne Wilson has the mount on Ready Lady, who is a half-sister to three-time Canadian champion Lady Speightspeare.

Whimsical Dance, one of the last bluebloods bred by the defunct Sam-Son Farm, won her maiden and a first-level allowance here last year. She was purchased for $725,000 from the 2022 Keeneland November sale by Narola LLC and Anderson Farms Ontario.

Returning from a winter layoff on May 19 at Belmont, Whimsical Dance finished a flat sixth in a nine-furlong turf route. Rafael Hernandez will get a leg up from trainer Gail Cox on the daughter of Distorted Humor and 2020 Canadian Broodmare of the Year Danceforthecause.

Trainer Mark Casse sends out Lady Moonshine and Toeris.

Lady Moonshine won 4 of 9 starts last year, including a pair of Ontario-sired allowances and an open allowance on the Tapeta. She dueled through soft fractions before weakening to third in her season opener going seven-eighths on the Tapeta, her preferred surface.

Toeris beat two next-out winners while clearing the first allowance condition the last time she saw action, on the Gulfstream grass in December. She has been working fast here on the Tapeta for top trainer Mark Casse, who has lured leading rider Kazushi Kimura.

Rounding out the ninth-race field are Amazin Queen, Miss Marie, and My Girl Sky.

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