Woodbine: Crysta's Court makes Victorian Queen her first victory

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Crysta’s Court, a 44-1 maiden, graduated in style at Woodbine Saturday in the $125,000 Victorian Queen Stakes, handing Cryptic Message her first loss in the process.

Cryptic Message, the 1-2 favorite, set honest fractions of 22.42 and 45.51 in the six-furlong dash for Ontario-sired 2-year-old fillies. Crysta’s Court broke inward and gave the field a headstart before closing strongly on the outside through the stretch to prevail by a length in 1:10.64.

Cryptic Message finished 2 1/4 lengths clear of the third horse, Strut the Course.

Luis Contreras rode Crysta’s Court ($91.70) for JMC’s Racing Stable and trainer Justin Nixon.

“She’s been so honest,” said Nixon. “We thought if we could get a shot at some black type, today would be the day, and it worked out very well. I asked Luis to take her off the pace a little and let the speed go. Getting shuffled back at the start was probably the best thing that happened for her.”

* Clarinet wore down the front-running Janicellaine in the stretch to notch her first stakes win in Saturday’s supporting feature, the $100,200 Flaming Page. The Josie Carroll-trained Clarinet covered the distance of about 12 furlongs on firm turf in 2:32.35 under Eurico Da Silva. She paid $22.30.