Strut the Course primed for Classy ’n Smart Stakes
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Strut the Course will look to continue her recent run of good form when she takes on eight other Ontario-sired fillies and mares in the $125,000 Classy ’n Smart Stakes at Woodbine on Sunday.
Strut the Course enters the Classy ’n Smart off of a win in an open second-level optional claimer on the grass over Silent Star on Aug. 29, earning an 83 Beyer Speed Figure. Strut the Course has turned in a pair of bullet works since her win, including a five-furlong breeze in 59.80 seconds on the dirt training track here on Sept. 20.
“She’s in good shape and hopefully she runs another good race,” said trainer Barbara Minshall.
Strut the Course will switch back to the Polytrack for this event after back-to-back starts on turf, but Minshall said she wasn’t concerned about the change in surface.
“She trains a lot on the dirt,” she said. “She handles all three surfaces equally well. It’s hard to know which one she’s better on. She’s such a good-moving horse that I’m not concerned with the surface at all.”
KEY CONTENDERS
Strut the Course (Last 3 Beyers: 83-78-85)
◗ Strut the Course earned a career-best 85 Beyer in her last start on Polytrack, which came in an Ontario-sired allowance race on July 4.
◗ She settled off of the pace in that 1 1/16-mile race and closed quickly along the outside to defeat Bear’s Gem by a length.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Over the past five years, Minshall has a 17 percent strike rate with horses going from turf to synthetic at Woodbine with a return on investment of $2.60.
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Silent Star (Last 3 Beyers: 79-79-78)
◗ Silent Star has faced Strut the Course three times already this season, getting the upper hand on her rival twice, including a win in the Victoriana Stakes on turf on July 30.
I’m a Kittyhawk (Last 3 Beyers: 82-78-77)
◗ I’m a Kittyhawk saved ground along the inside and drove clear in the late going to win the Algoma Stakes with a career-best 82 Beyer on Aug. 27, when the rail appeared to be favorable.
Moonlit Beauty (Last 3 Beyers: 75-52-68)
◗ Moonlit Beauty will be looking for her third straight Classy ’n Smart victory and has the potential to take the field gate to wire from the rail.
◗ She enters this race off of a front-running score on Aug. 30.