Starship Jubilee overcomes awkward start to win Nassau
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Starship Jubilee overcame a stumble at the break to take the Grade 2, $177,500 Nassau Stakes under Eurico Da Silva at Woodbine on Saturday.
Starship Jubilee ($22.90) rallied between rivals early in the stretch before drawing clear to score by 2 1/2 lengths over 37-1 shot Involuntary. A troubled Stormy Victoria wound up third, and was followed by the pacemaker, Caren, Southern Gem, and Shelbysmile. Over yielding ground, the final time for the one-mile distance was 1:36.86.
Catch a Glimpse, the 2015 Canadian Horse of the Year, was pulled up on the turn by Florent Geroux. She was deemed to have bled, according to the stewards, and was vanned off, appearing none the worse for wear.
Starship Jubilee, a daughter of Indy Wind trained by Kevin Attard, earned $105,000 for owner Soli Mehta and partner. She was claimed for just $16,000 at Gulfstream in February, and has now won four races in a row.
“She looked like a horse who was dying to stretch out,” said Attard. “We were fortunate enough to win the shake the day we took her, and that’s when she started stretching out in distance. She’s just really blossomed since we’ve gotten her. She’s trained phenomenally well. I know she was an underdog, but we were excited about her chances today.”
Silver Princess scores in Lady Angela
Silver Princess ($13.50) also notched her first stakes in Saturday’s supporting feature, the $125,000 Lady Angela, a seven-furlong sprint for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies.
Silver Princess stalked in second before taking command in the stretch, and then held off a closing Little Christy to prevail by a half-length, in a time of 1:22.88. Even-money favorite Conquest Vivi wound up third in the eight-horse field.
Rafael Hernandez rode Silver Princess for Osprey Stable and trainer Roger Attfield, who said the daughter of Old Forester has been difficult to train.
“She’s got a mind of her own--very temperamental,” Attfield explained. “She had a lot of problems at the gate last year, so we took her to Florida this winter. I schooled her twice a week at the gate, until the gate seemed like her home. We got past that part. She’s always had speed. She needed to relax, and Rafael gave her a great ride. Her two works coming into this race were really good. It was just a question of whether she was going to handle race-day nerves. She did well. I’m very proud of her.”