Tapeta the question for U.S. invaders in Woodbine Oaks

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Two lightly raced shippers with upside, Holy Helena and Inflexibility, are among the protagonists in Sunday’s $500,000 Woodbine Oaks, a nine-furlong stakes that has been won by the likes of Flaming Page, Dance Smartly, and Lexie Lou.

Holy Helena, a daughter of Ghostzapper owned by Stronach Stable, graduated second time out May 12 in a one-turn maiden special weight route on the dirt at Belmont. The 86 Beyer Speed Figure she earned is the highest in the Oaks field.

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens told a representative of Woodbine’s media office that Holy Helena is a classy, straightforward filly with stamina who should take to the Tapeta surface. “I don’t buy too much into the breeding for [synthetics], especially because Ghostzappers seem to run on everything and get better with age,” Jerkens said. “I hope she likes it, and we sent her a little early so that she could get a good gallop over it and a nice work.”

Before coming to Woodbine, Holy Helena worked seven furlongs around two turns over the Belmont Park training track in 1:32.03.

“When you go that far, you want to give them a little two-turn experience, and she did it nice and even all the way,” Jerkens said. “She’s built like a distance horse and has a nice long body and neck to her.”

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Holy Helena breezed five furlongs in 1:00.80 here on Tuesday, and jockey Luis Contreras said she handled the Tapeta beautifully.

“She worked really good,” Contreras said. “The trainer, Jimmy, said she might work in 1:02 because she’s not a very good work horse, but she went a little quicker than I expected.”

Inflexibility, based at Saratoga with 2016 Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown, has made both of her starts on grass. She mounted an eye-catching wide rally to win a 1 1/16-mile maiden special going away at Belmont on May 4.

The 62nd running of the Oaks is the first leg of the stakes series for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies. It will be followed by the $225,000 Bison City Stakes on the Tapeta here July 9 and the $225,000 Wonder Where Stakes on the grass here July 30.

The supporting stakes on Sunday’s superb 11-race card are the $125,000 Plate Trial, an important Queen’s Plate prep, and the $100,000 Alywow, an overnight turf sprint for 3-year-old fillies.

KEY CONTENDERS

Holy Helena, by Ghostzapper

Beyers: 86-66

◗ She will try to become the third Woodbine Oaks winner for Stronach Stable, which won it with Touch Dial (1999) and Ginger Brew (2008). Jerkens trains Stronach’s Grade 1 winner Shaman Ghost, the 2015 Queen’s Plate victor.

Inflexibility, by Scat Daddy

Beyers: 75-72

◗ Turf horses often take to the Tapeta like a duck to water, and this nicely bred $340,000 yearling purchase should welcome the added distance after working on the deep training track at Saratoga.

◗ Over the past five years, Brown has a 29 percent strike rate with turf and synthetic starters, with a return on investment of $2.37.

Enstone, by Tiznow

Last 3 Beyers: 83-76-74

◗ The Fury Stakes winner is exiting a front-running second traveling 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes.

◗ The Mark Casse charge has trained encouragingly heading into the Oaks, according to jockey Patrick Husbands, who said he wasn’t concerned with the added distance.

“She can do anything,” Husbands said.

Stallion Heiress, by Exchange Rate

Last 3 Beyers: 56-82-84

◗ She went coast to coast in each of her first three starts, all on the grass at Fair Grounds, winning by a total of more than 15 lengths.

◗ She has worked three times on the Tapeta at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland since coming up empty in the Grade 3 Edgewood at Churchill Downs and figures to lead the way with blinkers on.

Financial Recovery, by Street Cry

Last 3 Beyers: 77-68-67

◗ She closed on the far outside for second in the seven-furlong Fury. A wide trip over an inside-favoring track in the Selene left her five lengths back in sixth.

◗ Mike Smith will ride her for trainer Catherine Day Phillips, who won last year’s Oaks with longshot Neshama. They combined to finish second in the 2009 Queen’s Plate with Mr. Foricos Two U.

Mythical Mission, by Giant’s Causeway

Last 3 Beyers: 68-70-59

◗ Her lone prep race was a third-place finish in the Fury under leading rider Eurico Da Silva, who retains the mount and was victorious in last year’s Oaks on Neshama.

Ellan Vannin, by Spring At Last

Last 3 Beyers: 64-68-64

◗ The first-time Lasix user has worked well since finishing a wide fifth in the April 30 Fury.

◗ Like Mythical Mission, she might ultimately find her calling on the grass.