Poulin in O T has easy stakes-debut triumph in Victoria

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Poulin in O T darted out to a clear lead on the turn and never looked back to land his stakes debut under Luis Contreras in Sunday’s $149,250 Victoria for 2-year-olds at Woodbine.

Velocitor and Uncle Jock vied for the early lead in the 5 1/2-furlong sprint before they were overtaken by a sharp Poulin in O T, who went on to score by 3 1/4 lengths, in a time of 1:04.71.

Favored Battle Strike had a troubled break before closing three-wide to finish a clear second. He was followed by Velocitor, Kaukokaipuu, Mikey Bananas and Uncle Jock.

Poulin in O T earned $90,000 for the partnership of Empress Stable and trainer Steve Owens, who blew the homebred gelding out three-eighths in :34.40 on Thursday, three weeks after notching his debut.

“We gave him a hard workout the other morning because he didn’t get enough out of his previous work a week and a half ago,” Owens said. “This was a quick race back. If he hadn’t worked good on Thursday, we probably would have taken a different path.”

Poulin in O T, an Ontario-bred son of Reload, returned $8.50 to win.

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