Piper's Gift catches Bossy Candy in Fury Stakes
:quality(75))
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Piper’s Gift was pounded down to favoritism in Saturday's $125,000 Fury Stakes at Woodbine and didn’t disappoint her backers when scoring under Rafael Hernandez in the prep for the July 19 Woodbine Oaks.
Bossy Candy inherited the lead in the seven-furlong sprint and set slow, wind-aided fractions under Pietro Moran. Piper’s Gift was eager in second on the backstretch and eventually took dead aim at Bossy Candy in the stretch, getting up by a half-length in a time of 1:23.21.
“She’s been working good,” Hernandez said. “The last sixteenth, she gave me another gear and just kicked in.”
Reigning Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Corsia Veloce finished third in her first outing since taking the Grade 1 Natalma in September. Katie’s Grace, Pageant Queen, and Mathematical completed the order of finish in the race for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.
A daughter of Yorkton, Piper’s Gift is now unbeaten in four Tapeta excursions. She was coming off a non-threatening fourth without Lasix on yielding turf in her season opener in the Memories of Silver Stakes at Aqueduct.
“If you look at the form, it’s pretty obvious when she’s on synthetic and Tapeta, she’s a different horse,” trainer Dale Desruisseaux said. “We’ll try grass maybe later on down the road. The races right now are on synthetic.”
Piper’s Gift ($3.80) earned $75,000 for owner/breeder Chiefswood Stables.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.