Winterberry steals the show from stablemate in Bison City Stakes
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario – At 3-5, Shifty was all the rage in the betting in Saturday’s $250,000 Bison City Stakes at Woodbine, but it was her stablemate Winterberry who literally stole the show in the middle leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara.
Winterberry ($5.70) outran the maiden Hibiscus for the lead in the 1 1/16-mile event and then proceeded to set quick fractions under Patrick Husbands. Shifty took up the chase in third before taking dead aim at Winterberry inside the quarter pole.
Winterberry had lots in reserve, however, and she drew away in the stretch to prevail by 2 1/2 lengths, in a time of 1:44.65.
Shifty finished 4 1/2 lengths clear of third-place finisher Aristella. Crystal Visions, Hibiscus, and Innisfree Isle completed the order of finish in the race for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.
Winterberry had a breakout victory June 7 in the seven-furlong Fury stakes, scoring comfortably over Nata Trouble and Shifty with an 86 Beyer Speed Figure. She subsequently ran third behind her King’s Plate-bound stablemate No Time and Shifty after setting a fast pace in the nine-furlong Woodbine Oaks, the first Tiara leg.
“When I rode her in the stakes race that she won, to me she was impressive,” Husbands recalled. She just changed. When she came back and worked after that, she was a different horse. She just turned around.”
Winterberry and Shifty are both trained by Mark Casse for D. J. Stable. A daughter of Frosted, Winterberry earned $150,000.
The Canadian Triple Tiara concludes with the $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes traveling 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf here Sept. 6.
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