Reagan's Flame rallies, catches Lithe Spirit in Whimsical

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Florida shipper Reagan’s Flame collared the favored Lithe Spirit late to take the Grade 3 Whimsical at Woodbine on Saturday under a patient ride from Sahin Civaci.

After racing forwardly early in the six-furlong sprint, Reagan’s Flame dropped back to a trailing sixth on the turn as Ms. Bucchero and American Women dueled through quick fractions.

Reagan’s Flame mounted a wide rally in the stretch en route to a two-length score, in a final time of 1:10.11. Lithe Spirit finished two lengths clear of third-place finisher Quadruple, who was followed by Ms. Bucchero, American Women, and Brindi.

Based at Palm Meadows with trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., Reagan’s Flame was turning back off a series of 1 1/16-mile outings, most recently a 6 1/2-length tally in a handicap at Gulfstream.

“When I got here, I looked at her replays and she was running routes,” Civaci said. “Seeing the six furlongs today, I said uh-oh. In the post parade she seemed sharp, so I had confidence in her.

“I knew a couple of horses would go and I wanted to sit back behind them. I managed to circle around, and that’s when she kicked in anyways. I didn’t have to encourage her much. She just did it on her own.”

Reagan’s Flame returned $6.90 as the second betting choice. The daughter of Flameaway collected $90,000 of the $150,000 purse for the partnership of BAG Racing Stables, Turf Express Inc. and Watkins Diamond Stables.

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