Pyramid Park tunes up for Breeders'

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Pyramid Park will prepare for the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Aug. 6 Breeders' Stakes on turf, in Friday's featured fourth race at Woodbine. The one-mile grass allowance for Ontario-sired runners has lured nine runners.

Pyramid Park scored a 53-1 maiden victory last fall in the restricted Cup and Saucer Stakes on grass. Put on the Queen's Plate trail this spring by trainer Mike Doyle, Pyramid Park won an Ontario-sired allowance May 12, when he led all the way with the aid of an inside bias. In his next start, he backed up on the far turn and finished seventh after setting the pace in the Plate Trial Stakes. Most recently, in the June 25 Plate, Pyramid Park got hung out wide on the first turn before retreating and finished last of 13, beaten 36 lengths.

Pyramid Park prefers the grass and should not be out of his league here against older opponents. Slade Callaghan, who has ridden six of Doyle's 12 winners at the meeting, retains the mount.

Of the eight others in the field, the most notable runner is stakes winner Decew Falls, who makes his second start of the season Friday. Decew Falls had a lucrative 2005 campaign, winning 2 of 9 starts for earnings of $153,696. The highlight was a workmanlike victory over soft ground in the restricted Vice Regent Stakes. He also ran second in another one-mile Ontario sire stakes in October, the Bunty Lawless.

Trained by Mike Keogh, Decew Falls was compromised by the 6 1/2-furlong distance in his season opener June 21 but managed to rally for second.

Emile Ramsammy will ride Decew Falls.

Prospects for the secondary positions in the fourth race include Santino's Honour, Mystic Dash, and Uncle Max.

Santino's Honour won at the first Ontario-sired allowance category going seven furlongs on the main track June 28, beating next-out winner Neil the Knife. Santino's Honour has a spotty grass record, which includes a sixth-place finish in last year's Vice Regent.

Mystic Dash is winless since the fall of 2003, but might be coming up to a peak race in his fourth appearance of the meeting. He was recently third behind Decew Falls after putting in a mild rally.

Uncle Max ran greenly in his first two outings, both going six furlongs on the main track. He put it all together last time in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special on the grass, winning by a neck.