Smart Choice does her best up front

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Fashionably bred Smart Choice could be the right selection in Wednesday's Woodbine feature, a 6 1/2-furlong allowance for fillies and mares.

Smart Choice, from the hot Roger Attfield barn, has done her best running when she has been able to participate on the front end. She won her maiden on the lead with ease on Aug. 7, earning a fat Beyer Speed Figure of 88 in the process.

Smart Choice had a troubled inside trip running on a dead rail in her next-to-last start, finishing fourth as the favorite. Most recently over a sloppy track in a seven-furlong allowance, she dueled up front for a half-mile and opened up a clear lead at the eighth pole before giving way to late-running longshot Melisma's Valley.

Richard Dos Ramos retains the mount on Smart Choice, a daughter of promising young sire Smart Strike and stakes winner Ashtabula.

Also entered in the $63,500 headliner were Canadian Currency, Irish Line, Shine for Us, Chamul, Clairlyn, and Once Upon a Twine.

Irish Line ran a scintillating race on the grass Aug. 21, winning a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight by nearly seven lengths. She subsequently was a well-beaten fifth going a mile in the restricted La Prevoyante Stakes, and is coming off another double-digit loss, in an optional claimer on the main track.

Trainer Mike DePaulo is hoping for a successful speed try from Irish Line, who has earned about $40,000 since she was a bargain $32,000 claim in May.

"She's had a little time off, and we're hoping she runs a good race," said DePaulo. "She should probably be in a nonwinners-of-two Ontario-sired allowance, but there's always a chance those races won't go."

Clairlyn has won back-to-back Ontario-sired races at 6 1/2 furlongs for trainer John Ross. She won her maiden over a mediocre field Sept. 19, and upset Intoyourblues last time out, earning a mere 65 Beyer Figure.

Chamul is winless since capturing the six-furlong Star Shoot Stakes here in April of 2001. Trained by Mike Doyle, Chamul commenced her current campaign March 1 at the Fair Ground, and was absent for nearly six months heading into a six-furlong allowance here Oct. 24, in which she mounted a wide rally to end up fourth.

Once Upon a Twine lacked running room when second in a recent $40,000 conditioned claimer. She was competitive at this level in the summer, and could be a minor player for owner-trainer Gil Rowntree.

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