Slipstream ventures into shallower waters

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Christophe Clement’s New York shippers to Woodbine are usually live and he sends out first-time gelding Slipstream in Sunday’s featured conditioned allowance with a $50,000 claiming option on the Tapeta.

A 4-year-old turf specialist, Slipstream took the Grade 3 Futurity as the highlight of his juvenile season. He ran just twice last year, beginning with a victory in the April 10 Palisades Stakes at Keeneland before a 17th-place finish in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at the Royal Ascot meet in England.

Slipstream has kept some tough company this year while going winless in five starts. Last time out in a conditioned allowance at Saratoga, he finished just 3 1/4 lengths back in seventh behind the future stakes winners Arzak and Thin White Duke. Runner-up Coppola subsequently notched a third-level allowance at Churchill Downs.

Slipstream has no Tapeta experience but his sire, More Than Ready, has produced a good 13 percent winners in synthetic sprints. Clement has won at an 18-percent rate going turf to synthetic during the past five years, with a return on investment of $1.43.

Luis Contreras has the call on stretch-runner Slipstream, who has speed to close into in the form of Boston Tea Party and There’s No Joe. Both need the lead to get the job done.

La Belleza Negra possesses tactical speed and could track the leaders on the backstretch before making a bid. The 4-year-old has been campaigned sporadically since the spring of 2022 and ended a drought by wiring first-level allowance opposition most recently in a Tapeta sprint that contained two next-out winners.

Sofia Vives retains the mount on La Belleza Negra for leading trainer Mark Casse. They’ve combined to win at a 29-percent clip and Vives is the leading contender for the 2023 Sovereign Award as outstanding apprentice.

Red River Rebel is exiting the sidelines off a $40,000 claim by trainer Marty Drexler. The two-time restricted stakes winner captured the final leg of the Woodbine Turf Sprint Series in August after it was moved to the Tapeta, from which the fifth- and sixth-place finishers both came out of to score.

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Sahin Civaci rides Red River Rebel. The meet’s second-leading rider has a 20-percent strike rate for Drexler, who has been winning at a 25-percent clip off a claim.

Forester’s Fortune is an ideal prospect for the lower rungs of the exotic wagers. The son of Old Forester has been shut out in eight starts since taking the restricted Vice Regent Stakes in September of 2022, but was a minor player in his last two outings at this level.

Armstrong, the lone 3-year-old in the seven-horse field, is making his second start off a long layoff while going back to the Tapeta, over which he won the 2022 Clarendon Stakes going the six-furlong distance of this event.

Post time for the 11-race card is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.

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