Quick in Deed on a roll
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Quick in Deed, the only four-time winner at the Woodbine meeting, should be the prohibitive favorite Wednesday in the $125,000 Deputy Minister Stakes, a seven-furlong sprint for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds.
Quick in Deed has won four in a row, including two Ontario-sired allowances, since finishing second to the talented Verne's Baby in his first start of the year.
After getting bumped at the break June 15, Quick in Deed was hard pressed to capture his turf debut in the restricted Bold Ruckus Stakes. Trainer Abraham Katryan said Quick in Deed struggled over the yielding ground and came out of the race with a foot problem. He was back on his game for his most recent start, which came on the main track in the Achievement Handicap, winning comfortably under regular rider Ray Sabourin.
"I was worried about his last race, because he grabbed his quarter in the Bold Ruckus," Katryan said. "He overcame all that. He has gotten better every time he runs."
Quick in Deed breezed a half-mile in a sizzling 46.40 seconds on Friday, a move that wasn't too fast for Katryan's liking.
"He came out of it beautifully," Katryan said. "Every time I've worked him lately, he has basically done it all on his own."
Katryan said that Quick in Deed bucked his shins the only time he ran seven furlongs, when he finished a flat second in the Oct. 27 Frost King Stakes.
Katryan said he resisted the temptation to point Quick in Deed to the Queen's Plate.
"He never showed that he wanted to go around two turns," Katryan said. "We just tried to go through his conditions, and keep him sprinting."
The second and third choices in the Deputy Minister figure to be Flat Rock and Dave the Knave, who have both been chasing Quick in Deed.
Flat Rock was arguably best in the six-furlong Bold Ruckus. He lacked room inside the eighth pole when closing along the rail, and then surged late to end up second.
Flat Rock was a distant third in Quick in Deed's May 12 allowance triumph. He worked five-eighths in a bullet 58.60 seconds on the main track July 8 for trainer Mark Casse, who will give the mount to jockey Patrick Husbands.
Dave the Knave, victorious in the Sunny's Halo Stakes last November, was a clear second last time out in the six-furlong Achievement. David Clark rides for trainer Bob Tiller, a successful combo at this meet.