Surface switch shouldn't bother Tito's Calling

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The hard-knocking Tito’s Calling goes back to Ontario-sired company in Friday’s $100,000 Ashbridges Bay Stakes going 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta for 3-year-old fillies.

Trained by Mike DePaulo, Tito’s Calling has contested six consecutive stakes since landing an Ontario-sired allowance in her May 5 season opener. Three weeks after ending up fourth in the Fury on June 10, she earned valuable Grade 3 black type when third in the Selene.

Tito’s Calling competed in all three races of Canada’s triple crown for fillies. She was a well-beaten 10th in the July 23 Woodbine Oaks before rebounding with a second in the Bison City Stakes. Switching to the turf Sept. 10, she won her first stakes in the 1 1/4-mile Wonder Where.

DePaulo was content with her last outing, a fifth-place finish against the boys on the turf in the 1 1/2-mile Breeders’, the anchor leg of the Canadian triple crown.

“I thought it was a pretty good race,” DePaulo said. “It looked like she got tired the last little bit. She had come back in three weeks, which isn’t easy. She’s getting a little more time [between races] this time. The only time she didn’t run any good was in the Oaks, when she didn’t have the greatest trip.”

DePaulo felt the change in surfaces on Friday shouldn’t matter much to Tito’s Calling.

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“I think she’s better on grass, but she’s certainly capable on” Tapeta, DePaulo explained. “She was third in the Selene and second in the Bison City.”

The hot Sahin Civaci, second-leading rider at Woodbine, has the call on Tito’s Calling, who’s owned by Zilli Racing Stables.

Trainer Kevin Attard sends out multiple stakes winner Fashionably Fab and allowance runner Silent Sky. Fashionably Fab is coming off a nose win in the 7 1/2-furlong Eternal Search Stakes on the inner turf.

Algoma Stakes winner Souper Sinclair is going long for the first time this year and comes off an Ontario-sired allowance triumph.

“The distance is a question mark for her, but with the way she has been training, I don’t see why she couldn’t get that mile and a sixteenth,” trainer Phil Hall said. “She is a very smart horse – great on race day, never gets worked up, and always gives an honest effort.”

Lake Ontario Stakes

Rapid Test heads the male equivalent of the Ashbridges Bay, the $100,000 Lake Ontario. They are the final legs of the Ontario Sired Heritage Series for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds.

Rapid Test went to the bench after back-to-back seven-furlong scores with a pair of 85 Beyers in August, including the Elgin Stakes for graduates of Canadian sales. Trainer Catherine Day Phillips has been pointing the son of Souper Speedy to this event.

“There just hasn’t been a lot for him, so we decided to wait for this race,” Day Phillips said. “He had a nice breeze in company on Saturday and is in good order. I’m looking forward to him running.”

Multiple stakes winner Poulin in O T was promoted from third to first in the Lake Erie Stakes on Sept. 12 at Fort Erie after it was determined that the top two finishers carried the incorrect weight.

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