William T, Wicked Django meet in Autumn off upset victories

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – William T and Wicked Django are both coming off longshot stakes scores and are among a field of six in the Autumn, one of three Grade 3, $175,000 Tapeta stakes on Saturday’s excellent Woodbine card.

William T went from a decisive allowance tally to the Grade 3 Durham Cup, in which he upset the favored front-runner Maycocks Bay after closing from third. Trainer Don MacRae said he was a little surprised by the effort put forth by William T in the Sept. 19 Durham.

“We supplemented him to the race, so it was a last-minute thing, but everything just seemed to fall together,” MacRae said. “I was hoping he would run second or third, but he ran the race of his life and stepped up huge. He had every right halfway down the lane to be relegated to second, but he showed a great amount of determination.”

Victorious in the 2024 Autumn, Wicked Django filled out the exacta behind Paramount Prince in the Aug. 30 Caledon Stakes. Jockey Keveh Nicholls said the powerful 6-year-old just towed him around most recently when narrowly taking the Grand Valley Stakes after a stretch battle over Paramount Prince, his first victory on turf.

“I had so much horse and I was just looking to pick a spot,” Nicholls said. “He dug in really hard. Paramount Prince, I got by him and he fought back on.”

Grade 3 stakes winner Runaway Again is returning from a layoff after missing some training and is making his first start since a narrow loss to archrival Paramount Prince in the Grade 3 Seagram Aug. 1.

“He came up with a little problem – not too bad,” trainer Sid Attard said. “We gave him a little time off. We only missed one race. He’s been going good.”

Bessarabian

Reagan’s Flame and Creed’s Gold will clash for the second time in the seven-furlong Bessarabian for fillies and mares.

Based at Saratoga with trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., Regan’s Flame is the leading candidate for Canadian champion female sprinter honors this year. She won the Grade 3 Whimsical and Grade 3 Seaway here before winning the Grade 2 Presque Isle Masters most recently Sept. 18.

The Mark Casse-trained Creed’s Gold defeated Time to Dazzle and Reagan’s Flame when landing the Grade 3 Hendrie July 25. Due to a foot problem, she never saw action again until Oct. 17 when finishing a wide fifth over an inside-biased track while favored in the Grade 3 Ontario Fashion.

The 10-horse field also includes the Godolphin runners Pondering and Quiet Street, along with Quadruple, who benefited from the inside bias in winning the six-furlong Ontario Fashion at 16-1.

Maple Leaf

Sultana will try to win the 1 1/4-mile Maple Leaf for the second year in a row. The Kevin Attard-trained 5-year-old is coming off a sixth without Lasix behind Gimme a Nother and Jancis in a tough edition of the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor on the main turf.

Dixie Law, one of the leading sophomore fillies on the grounds, could go favored in the six-horse field of fillies and mares.