Stakes-placed maiden Hollywood Critic targets Display Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Although he’s still a maiden, if his performance in the Grade 3 Grey Stakes on Oct. 5 is any indication, big things could be in store for the 2-year-old colt Hollywood Critic.

Going off at odds of 24-1 in the Grey, Hollywood Critic put together a strong stretch run to be third behind International Star and Conquest Typhoon, both of whom will start in Friday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita. Hollywood Critic, meanwhile, likely will be a key contender in Saturday’s $125,000 Display Stakes at Woodbine.

Hollywood Critic joined trainer Barbara Minshall’s Woodbine stable in July from Webb Carroll Training Center in South Carolina. Minshall said Hollywood Critic has progressed nicely since arriving in Toronto.

“He’s a very good horse, I think,” she said. “He’s come to hand pretty quick. He didn’t get here until a month and a half before his first race, but he hasn’t missed a step since he got here.”

Hollywood Critic appears to be training well coming into the Display. He breezed five furlongs in 1:00.20 on the main track Oct. 18 and followed with another five-furlong work in 1:00.60, handily, on the dirt training track here Saturday, drawing rave reviews from Minshall.

“It was excellent,” she said. “It couldn’t have been better.”