Sir Winston ends lengthy layoff in Thursday allowance
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The 2019 Belmont Stakes winner Sir Winston returns from a layoff of nearly a year in Thursday’s featured conditioned allowance route on Woodbine's main track.
Owned and bred by Tracy Farmer, Sir Winston had his coming out party on the Tapeta at Woodbine, where he was among the leading 2-year-olds in 2018. After earning his diploma, the son of Awesome Again wound up third in the Grade 3 Grey, before taking the 1 1/16-mile Display Stakes over a good field that included Global Access.
It took some time for Sir Winston to come around at 3. He woke up with a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Peter Pan at Belmont, after which he captured the Grade 1 Belmont with the aid of an inside bias, under a brilliant ride from Joel Rosario.
The highlight of Sir Winston’s abbreviated 2020 campaign was a second to Moretti over a sloppy track in the 1 3/8-mile Flat Out Stakes at Belmont.
Sir Winston has worked extensively here on the Tapeta since the spring. He posted back-to-back sub-1:00 five-furlong drills in July, including from the gate on July 24.
Antonio Gallardo rides Sir Winston for trainer Mark Casse, who’s also sending out the speedy My Silencer in the 1 1/16-mile event.
My Silencer has won two in a row dating back to Nov. 1, when he beat non-winners of three Ontario-sired allowance opposition. Off an eight-month layoff on July 11, he went gate to wire in a seven-furlong, second-level optional claimer under Luis Contreras, who retains the mount.
Malibu Mambo should be a major player in his third start after a spring break. He was second behind the future Grade 2 Connaught Cup winner Avie’s Flatter when going seven-eighths on the second day of the meet June 13.
When moving up to the Grade 3 Dominion Day on July 1, Malibu Mambo made an early bid into third in the slow-paced route and finished in that position. Victorious Mighty Heart, Canada’s reigning Horse of the Year, subsequently ran second in a stakes at Mountaineer, and runner-up March to the Arch came back to win an overnight turf stakes here with ease.
David Moran will ride Malibu Mambo again for trainer Mike Doyle, who sent out the Stronach Stable homebred to breeze a half-mile in :47 last Saturday.
Special Forces is returning from an extended layoff, which began after he notched his first stakes in the Grade 2 Autumn here in November of 2019. He was claimed from Casse for $40,000 in 2018 by his current trainer, Kevin Attard.
Completing the field are Timeskip, who was third in two graded stakes last fall, including the Autumn; and Royal Laser, who’s the lone entrant competing with a $60,000 claiming price.