Speightsong gets first stakes win in Queenston

ETOBICOKE, Ontario ─ Speightsong established himself as a contender for the July 6 Queen’s Plate with a front-running score Saturday at Woodbine in the $150,000 Queenston Stakes.

Speightsong ($3.20) was allowed to set soft fractions in the seven-furlong sprint for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds. He began to draw off at the eighth pole en route to a 2 1/2-length tally in 1:22.37. The Imposter finished a clear second over Eighty Nine Red in a field reduced to six with the scratch of Spadina Road.

The 58th running of the Queenston was the third victory on the card for jockey Patrick Husbands.

“He left the gates sharp, and when I realized nobody wanted the lead, I let him do what he wanted to do,” Husbands said. “He won pretty easy.”

Speightsong, a half-brother to 2013 Canadian Horse of the Year Up With the Birds, banked $90,000 for his first stakes win for Sam-Son Farm and trainer Malcolm Pierce.