ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sunday’s $100,000 Overskate Stakes features an intriguing matchup between Awesome Bourbon and Cruden Bay. They have taken different paths to this 7 1/2-furlong inner turf event for Ontario-sired stock, and Awesome Bourbon could go favored under Woodbine’s leading rider, Rafael Hernandez. Trained by Abraham Katryan for owner Carlo D’Amato, Awesome Bourbon is riding the wave of a three-race winning streak in allowance/optional-claiming company on the inner turf. He took the nightcap on the Aug. 16 King’s Plate card and then used his speed again on Sept. 13 when romping by six lengths while earning a whopping 99 Beyer Speed Figure. Awesome Bourbon showed that he doesn’t need the lead most recently while closing from third to prevail by two lengths with a 95 Beyer. “He is a very nice horse, and I think he is awesome,” Katryan said. “I was amazed at his last race, just the way he did it. He is just improving every day and living up to the expectations that he displays in the mornings. “He’s fast. If you let him go, he will go as fast as he can and won’t stop that easily. But in that last race, Rafael just let him relax a little bit, sat just off the pace, and then came charging.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Awesome Bourbon breezed five-eighths in a bullet 59 seconds over the Tapeta on Oct. 17. He drew post 2 in the seven-horse field. Cruden Bay has won the last two runnings of the Grade 2 Connaught Cup, a seven-furlong main turf sprint, winning it off an 11-month layoff July 20. The stretch-runner went on to finish fourth in the Grade 2 King Edward. He switched to the Tapeta most recently in the Grade 3 Vigil and checked in third behind Woodbine’s top sprinter Simcoe with Fraser Aebly aboard. “I thought [the Vigil run] was a very solid effort,” trainer Don MacRae said. “Fraser gave him a great ride.” Cruden Bay has breezed a half-mile in about 48 seconds twice leading up to the Overskate, a race named after one of Canada’s greatest grass runners. “He always does his job,” MacRae said. “That last work, I had to give a 2-year-old some schooling experience, so I breezed him outside of Hemlo Gold and put the 2-year-old in behind. Fraser gave me a good laugh. He said when the 2-year-old came up beside Cruden Bay, he shrugged at him and more or less spooked the 2-year-old for a few strides.” Rapid Test was scratched from a conditioned allowance last Sunday after it was taken off the turf. The fourth-place finisher in last year’s Overskate, he has only started once this year, a commendable second behind Awesome Bourbon on Sept. 28, for which he got a career-high 90 Beyer. The supplemented Hunt Master won last year’s Overskate on the front end. He figures to be a longshot off back-to-back off-the-board finishes against tougher. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.