Strut the Course set for second turf start in Victoriana Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – A peaking Strut the Course could find the mark Wednesday night at Woodbine in the $125,000 Victoriana Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf route for Ontario-sired females.

Strut the Course wound up second as the favorite in her lone grass outing Sept. 7 in the one-mile La Prevoyante Stakes. Trainer Barb Minshall said Strut the Course is a beautiful mover who handled the yielding ground adequately that day.

“She handles the turf just fine,” Minshall said. “Her only turf race was the only time she’s been on it, and she was only beaten a neck. Just as the jockey changed his stick, she changed her lead and lost a little momentum.”

Minshall said Strut the Course missed last fall due to a stress fracture. She finished seventh following an eight-month absence in the six-furlong Ballade Stakes on May 3 and then checked in fourth three weeks later when going long in an allowance. Most recently, she captured a 1 1/16-mile allowance with a career-high 86 Beyer Speed Figure.

“The first race was too short, and I don’t think I had her quite tight enough for the second one,” Minshall said. “She came back a little tired. Next time around, I had her a little tighter, and she ran a good race.”

The field of 13 for the Victoriana includes the last two winners of the race, Moonlit Beauty and Hobnobsnob. Silent Treat figures to be scratched after running in Sunday’s Grade 3 Royal North Stakes.

KEY CONTENDERS

Strut the Course (Last 3 Beyers: 86-74-66)

◗ She has improved with each outing since returning from a long layoff caused by an injury and has worked twice since a determined allowance score July 4.

◗ Minshall and jockey Chantal Sutherland-Kruse combined to win a recent turf stakes here with Stacked Deck.

Moonlit Beauty (Last 3 Beyers: 68-79-67)

◗ The durable six-time stakes winner took the 2012 Victoriana over Reconnect and was a troubled ninth in last year’s edition on a course that took some rain just prior to the race.

Bear’s Gem (Last 3 Beyers: 84-73-62)

◗ She dead-heated for second in the 2013 Victoriana. Her preferred surface is probably Polytrack, over which she led until late stretch before being overtaken by Strut the Course in a July 4 allowance for Ontario-sired stock.

Hobnobsnob (Last 3 Beyers: 54-69-73)

◗ She is shareless in four starts since her front-running victory in last year’s Victoriana and is stretching out off a distant fifth in the allowance prep for the Royal North Stakes.