Tito's Calling opts for softer spot

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Tito’s Calling scratched out of Saturday’s Grade 3 Belle Mahone in favor of Thursday’s featured conditioned allowance with a $50,000 claiming option, scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf.

Tito’s Calling was among the leading Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine last year. After a rare poor showing in the Woodbine Oaks, she ran second in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara, the Bison City Stakes.

When switching to the turf for the third Tiara race in the 1 1/4-mile Wonder Where, Tito’s Calling got a dream run along the inside to win going away by four lengths. She went on to finish a respectable fifth against the boys in the Breeders’ before two more stakes placings late in the fall.

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When returning from the sidelines May 4, Tito’s Calling rallied inside for third in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance, an effort that trainer Mike DePaulo was content with.

“We’d never run her that short before – it was like a work race,” DePaulo said. “She’s got that race under her belt that will set her up to go two turns. She’s been training really well.”

Emma-Jayne Wilson retains the mount on Tito’s Calling for Zilli Racing Stables. She was aboard when the daughter of Society’s Chairman breezed five furlongs in 1:00 over the Tapeta on May 26.

Among the other fillies and mares in the sixth race are Me and My Shadow, Wickenheiser, and shipper Marksman Queen.

After ending up fourth in the Woodbine Oaks, Me and My Shadow rallied strongly to win last year’s Bison City with an 83 Beyer Speed Figure. The daughter of Violence was a disappointing fifth as the favorite in her first grass try in the Wonder Where, after which she went to the sidelines for seven months.

In her return to action April 20 at Gulfstream, Me and My Shadow was a wide third in a one-mile allowance/optional-claimer on the grass. Patrick Husbands will ride her for the first time for D J Racing Stable and leading trainer Mark Casse.

Wickenheiser also participated in the 2023 Canadian Triple Tiara. The full sister to 2020 Breeders’ victor Belichick ran second to Elysian Field in the Oaks before coming up empty in the King’s Plate. She rebounded with a solid second in the Wonder Where before a sixth-place finish in the Breeders’.

Wickenheiser eventually cleared the first allowance condition going 1 1/8 miles on Tapeta in her most recent trip postward in December. Apprentice Pietro Moran has the mount for good layoff trainer Kevin Attard.

Based at Fair Hill in Maryland, Marksman Queen won a Dec. 30 allowance on the Tapeta at Gulfstream before a pace-pressing fifth in allowance company on the Gulfstream turf Feb. 24. She got a break after finishing far back after a troubled start in the March 23 Latonia Stakes at Turfway. Kazushi Kimura will ride the English import for trainer Graham Motion.

Post time for the appealing eight-race card is 4:50 p.m.

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