Ready for Shirl wins Canadian; Cruden Bay takes Connaught Cup
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ETOBICOKE Ontario — Ready for Shirl caught the favored South African champion Gimme a Nother on the wire to win the Grade 2, $200,000 Canadian for the popular duo of jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson and trainer Roger Attfield on Sunday at Woodbine.
In a six-horse field devoid of speed, Gimme a Nother inherited the lead under Ryan Munger and set soft fractions in the 1 1/8-mile event for fillies and mares.
Ready for Shirl bided her time in fifth while about three lengths off the lead on the turn before Wilson angled her wide for the drive. She out-kicked Venencia in the final furlong and bested Gimme a Nother by a head.
“She’s been training exceptional,” Wilson said. “She telegraphed to us that she was going to (run a big race) today. She showed up exactly like we expected.”
Venencia finished a neck behind Gimme a Nother in third and was followed by Scarlet Poppy, Crevalle d’Oro, and Life’s an Audible.
Over a course labeled good, Ready for Shirl ($14.50) covered the distance in 1:49.57. The homebred daughter of More Than Ready banked $120,000 for Charles Fipke.
“Her last work was as good as she’s ever worked for me,” Attfield said. “She’s carrying more weight than she’s ever carried before. Since her last race, she put weight on, and I always had problems keeping weight on her. She was indicating that she’s (rounding into form).”
*** Cruden Bay won Sunday’s Grade 2 Connaught Cup for the second year in a row, this time off an 11-month layoff under highweight of 124 pounds with Fraser Aebly riding.
Cruden Bay ($20.20) raced about eight lengths off the pace in the seven-furlong turf sprint, as the favored filly Kehoe Beach led the way. Cruden Bay came wide in midstretch, then kicked in strongly through the final furlong to prevail by 1 1/2 lengths, in a time of 1:21.98.
Northern Invader was a stalking second, and Piper’s Factor beat out Kehoe Beach for third in the 10-horse field.
“When we hit the head of the lane, I started to smooch at him a little bit, and he started to pick up the bridle,” Aebly said. “It was just whether or not we found our spot to go, and he sure gave me everything he had when we found it.”
Trained by Don MacRae, Cruden Bay earned $126,000 of the $208,500 purse for owner Michael Lay. The 7-year-old son of Big Screen was bred in Ontario by Spring Farm.
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