Woodbine: Pender Harbour tries to snap skid in Bunty Lawless

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Pender Harbour has prevailed in the last two runnings of the $125,000 Bunty Lawless Stakes, and while the 5-year-old gelding has been blanked in four starts to date this season, his trainer, Mike De Paulo, likes his position heading into Sunday’s renewal of the one-mile turf stakes for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds and upward.

“He gets a break in the weights this year,” said De Paulo, noting that Pender Harbour carried 126 pounds as the highweight in the 2012 edition and gets in with 117 this time around. “It looks like he’s coming back to his real big races. His last two races have been pretty good.”

Pender Harbour signaled a return to his top form in the Halton, a one-mile turf race in which he ran second to Welloiledmachine, who was repeating in that yearling sales stakes and will be making his first start since that Aug. 28 race in the Bunty Lawless.

In the interim, Pender Harbour contested the restricted Overskate Stakes over seven furlongs of Polytrack and dueled with eventual winner Phil’s Dream before finishing third, beaten 1 1/4 lengths.

Phil’s Dream came back to win last Sunday’s Grade 1 Nearctic at six furlongs on the turf.

“He got beat by a pretty decent horse last time,” De Paulo said. “If he hadn’t chased him, he probably could have been second.”

Alec Fehr, who owns and trains Overskate runner-up Ultimate Destiny, might beg to differ.

Ultimate Destiny, a 4-year-old gelding, was purchased privately by Fehr last fall.

“We were a stride away from winning that; he was closing quickly,” Fehr said. “He was wide and moved a little too late.

“But that definitely gave me confidence. Phil’s Dream is a nice horse.”

Ultimate Destiny, who became a stakes winner in the restricted Steady Growth at 1 1/16 miles on Polytrack here this year and subsequently finished second (but placed eighth) in the Grade 3 Seagram Cup at the same distance, will be making his first start on turf for Fehr in the Bunty Lawless.

Fehr does note, however, that Ultimate Destiny finished second in the restricted Vice Regent Stakes at one mile on the grass here last summer for former trainer Mike Keogh.

“He seems to be very versatile,” said Fehr, adding that Ultimate Destiny also finished second in Fort Erie’s Prince of Wales at 1 3/16 miles on the dirt last year.

Jesse Campbell retains the mount on Pender Harbour, while Eurico Rosa Da Silva returns aboard Ultimate Destiny.

Good Better Best, who had defeated Ultimate Destiny here in the 1 1/16-mile Elgin on yearling sales stakes night, ran second to Pender Harbour in last year’s Bunty Lawless.

“He’s been running hard all along this year; I gave him a little freshening,” trainer Roger Attfield said. “He should come back and run well in here.”