Souper Hoity Toity holds off Moira in Belle Mahone Stakes
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Souper Hoity Toity was second in the 2022 Sovereign Award voting to champion 3-year-old filly Moira, but she managed to upset the reigning Canadian Horse of the Year after a stirring stretch run in Saturday’s Grade 3 Belle Mahone at Woodbine.
In a 1 1/16-mile route devoid of speed, Souper Hoity Toity vied up front with Il Malocchio through slow fractions, as Moira stalked them along the inside under Kazushi Kimura.
Kimura angled Moira outside for the drive to get a clear run at the leaders. Il Malocchio wilted in the final furlong, but Moira’s closing bid came up a neck short of Souper Hoity Toity, who dug in gamely to prevail in a time of 1:44.49. Purrfect finished another three lengths back in third in the seven-horse field.
The victory gave jockey Patrick Husbands, owner Live Oak Plantation and trainer Mark Casse a sweep of the Saturday stakes after they won the Grade 2 Royal North with Our Flash Drive earlier on the card.
Souper Hoity Toity returned $13.70 in her first start since a troubled seventh in the April 1 Sand Springs Stakes at Gulfstream. The daughter of Uncle Mo banked $90,000 of the $157,800 purse.
“When I rode her at Gulfstream, she should have won,” Husbands recalled. “I had nowhere to go. I was just waiting for any hole to open up. She ran a winning race. Looking at the racing form, there was no speed in this race. The only way I could beat (Moira), I gotta walk (the dog on the front end).”
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