Woodbine: Portside wins Star Shoot

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - An outsider, Portside, overhauled Nina Fever in the final strides to notch her first stakes in the $150,000 Star Shoot at Woodbine on Saturday.

Portside ($24.80) broke a bit slowly, and then trailed the six-horse field of 3-year-old fillies through the turn. Nina Fever, the 4-5 favorite trained by Wesley Ward, was pressed by Third Chance and Caribbean Lady through lively fractions of 22.44 and 44.96 seconds in the six-furlong sprint.

Portside began to made up ground on the far outside at the head of the stretch, and eventually mowed down a tiring Nina Fever to prevail by a neck in 1:10.09. Miss Inclined finished a troubled third.

Emma Wilson rode Portside for trainer Barb Minshall, who won two races on the card.

"She tried to outbreak the gate, and settled just as they sprung it," said Wilson.

"She settled into stride nicely, and I was happy where we were the first portion. I started asking her to pick it up at the three-eighths pole. We weren't closing into them too much, so I got a little worried. I thought we'd have to do some running, because Wesley Ward's horses are sharp and fit. She was true to her form, and punched on down the lane just fine."

Portside, who made each of her six previous starts at Aqueduct, banked $90,000 for owner Warren Byrne.