Wake At Noon makes case for Sovereign Award

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wake At Noon probably clinched the Sovereign Award for Canada's champion sprinter this year by capturing the Grade 3, $160,800 at Woodbine Sunday.

Wake At Noon stalked the pace on the outside in the six-furlong dash, running four-wide on the turn, as Davids Expectation and Krz Ruckus dueled through splits of :22.37 and :45.02 seconds.

Wake At Noon hit the front at the eighth pole, and went on to score by a length over Cheap Talk, who was boxed in until mid-stretch before mounting his rally. Krz Ruckus finished third in the five-horse field. The final time was 1:09.72 seconds.

It was the fourth stakes victory of the year for Wake At Noon, who is trained by Abraham Katryan.

"I think he deserves to be champion sprinter," said Katryan, who pointed out that Wake At Noon also merits consideration for Canadian Horse of the Year honors.

Emile Ramsammy rode Wake At Noon, who returned $3.80 as the favorite, and banked $96,480 for owner Bruno Schickedanz.

Stage Classic best in Chief Bearhart

Stage Classic, trained by Dave Cotey, won Sunday's $109,000 Chief Bearhart Stakes, another supporting feature on Canadian International Day at Woodbine.

With Ray Sabourin aboard, Stage Classic ran a mile and a quarter on the grass in 2:06.08 seconds, and returned $12.80.