Touch'n Ride hopes to end season on high note in Ontario Derby

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Breeders’ Stakes victor Touch’n Ride goes back to the Tapeta in Saturday’s $150,0000 Ontario Derby, heading a field of 10 3-year-olds in the 1 1/8-mile route at Woodbine.

Owned by Chiefswood Stables, Touch’n Ride was an impressive 5 1/4-length maiden winner with a 91 Beyer Speed Figure second time out on the Tapeta. Sent off at 6-1 in the Aug. 20 King’s Plate, the son of Candy Ride was impeded on the backstretch during a wide trip over a rail-biased track en route to finishing a respectable fifth.

“I think the horse ran tremendously in the Plate,” trainer Layne Giliforte said. “To still show the ability that he did to be fifth, after racing in tight and getting checked a little and getting bumped down the backside, I was thrilled with the horse.”

Touch’n Ride emulated his half-brother, Neepawa, when capturing the anchor leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Breeders’, in a gritty display. After getting bet down to 4-1, he was herded out through the stretch by Plate runner-up Elysian Field before scoring by a nose in the 1 1/2-mile turf event.

“He came out of that race great,” Giliforte said. “He’s a very happy horse right now.”

Kazushi Kimura retains the mount on Touch’n Ride, who will be put away for the year after the Ontario Derby. He needs another stakes score to be considered as a serious contender for Canadian champion male 3-year-old honors, and winning the Grade 3 Ontario Derby would be a big feather in his cap.

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Trainer Mike DePaulo sends out Stanley House and Cool Kiss. Both competed in the Plate and the second Triple Crown race, the Princes of Wales Stakes on the dirt at Fort Erie.

After breaking from the one-hole in the crowded 17-horse Plate field, Stanley House raced just off the rail and finished third, while Cool Kiss took the overland route from post 12 and wound up seventh. In the Prince of Wales, Cool Kiss got to the rail early from post 11 and closed for fourth, while Stanley House languished in seventh as the surprising favorite.

“He worked dynamite the other day,” DePaulo said of Stanley House. “Both of my horses bled in the Prince of Wales. I don’t know why. They never really had a history of bleeding before. Both breezed good [Saturday] and scoped real well. They’re ready to go.”

Velocitor posted a 7-1 upset score in the Prince of Wales after an ideal stalking trip over a sloppy track. The 2022 Coronation Futurity winner was previously fourth in the King’s Plate.

Alberta shipper American Blaze will compete on Tapeta for the first time since the spring at Turfway, where he failed to find the mark in a trio of six-furlong sprints. He was second last out in the Grade 3 Canadian Derby at Century Mile. Trainer Tom Rycroft worked him twice here on the Tapeta, including a half-mile in a bullet 46.60 seconds on Oct. 10.

Trainer Mark Casse entered the stakes-winning fillies Forever Dixie and Solo Album.

Completing the field are Souper Blessing, Twin City, and Twowaycrossing.

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