Uncle Dodo edges Titan Ready in Victoria Stakes
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The powerful Uncle Mo colt Uncle Dodo graduated in style in Sunday’s $128,000 Victoria, the first 2-year-old stakes of the Woodbine meet.
With Romero Maragh aboard, Uncle Dodo tracked the leaders on the outside through the turn, with the filly Klassen racing to his inside.
Favored Titan Ready, who prevailed in the front-end battle with Hesatrooper, was joined up front by Uncle Dodo early in the stretch. Uncle Dodo dug in late to prevail by a head, in a time of 1:04.98 for the 5 1/2 furlongs.
Klassen faded to finish another four lengths back in third. Merckx, Uncle Kef, Frost Rocket, and Hesatrooper completed the order of finish.
Uncle Dodo ($9.40) was unruly pre-race before running a deceptively good third when debuting in a June 14 maiden special and was adding Lasix for the Victoria.
“He’s a really nice horse,” Maragh said. “He’s a young horse and first-time (out) he just got the first-time jitters, or else he would have won. They did a great job with him. He was well schooled. Today, he was like a pony the whole post parade. He’s super straightforward. He loves his job. I lost my stick within the last 70 yards. It got slapped out of my hand. I guess he responded nicely to hand-riding, so I was happy for that.”
Uncle Dodo is owned by Hoolie Racing Stable and trained by Barbara Minshall. They combined to win the 2017 My Dear Stakes and Grade 3 Schuylerville with Uncle Dodo’s dam, Dream It Is.
*** Saratoga shipper Ghost Me won the filly equivalent of the Victoria, the $140,750 My Dear, after an unorthodox trip in the 5 1/2-furlong dash.
After tracking pacesetter Barometric early, Ghost Me dropped back to fifth along the rail on the turn. Mrs D assumed command in the stretch and looked headed for victory at the eighth pole before Ghost Me rallied along the rail to score by 1 1/4 lengths, in a time of 1:05.57.
Worldly Charm checked in third and was followed by Almighty One, Mo Cookie, Barometric, Sarayu, and Gone and Plenty.
Ghost Me returned $6.20 as the slight favorite under Sahin Civaci. The daughter of Ghostzapper is trained by George Weaver for a large partnership that includes R A Hill Stable and Regan Swinbank.
“It was a tough trip and she overcame it,” Civaci said. “(Sarayu) clipped heels or stumbled in front of us. I thought she was going to go down. After that coming home, it got really tight. She hesitated just for a second and she overcame that. She came with a good kick.”
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