Wentru ($30.30), Who's the Star dead-heat in Valedictory

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The 42-1 outsider Wentru dead-heated with the charging favorite Who’s the Star in Sunday’s Grade 3, 1 1/2-mile, $155,900 Valedictory at Woodbine.

Wentru ($30.30) set honest fractions in the marathon under Rafael Hernandez, as Who’s the Star ($3.40) bided his time near the rear of the 12-horse field about 10 lengths back under Emma-Jayne Wilson.

Who’s the Star began to mount a five-wide rally going around the far turn for the second time and then took aim at Wentru in the stretch before they hit the wire together in a time of 2:31.10.

English Conqueror wound up third. He was followed by Novo Sol, Collective Force, Seventyseven Stone, Prideofdistinction, Elusive Knight, Megayacht, Angelou, Ya Beauty and British Royalty.

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Ironically, Wilson and Hernandez dead-heated for the win in the Grade 2 Nassau here July 2 on Lady Speightspeare and Crystal Cliffs, respectively.

“I thought there’d be a lot more pace up front,” said Wilson, who broke from post 12. “I never got over to the rail. At the 3 1/2-furlong marker, I needed to get going. There was a lot of horses in the way. He’s got that wicked kick, so I swung him to the outside and got him going as fast as I could.”

Hernandez said Wentru relaxed sufficiently for the task at hand.

“He was on the bridle all the way, but nobody went head-to-head with me,” Hernandez said. “I got the jump before everybody.”

Both winners banked $60,000. It was the fourth straight victory for the Tourist gelding Wentru, who’s trained by Marty Drexler for TEC Racing.

It was the fourth stakes score at the Woodbine meet for the Mark Casse-trained Who’s the Star, who’s the front-runner for the Sovereign Award as Canadian champion older male on the main track. The son of Tonalist is owned by M Racing Group.

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