Woodbine: Quaesitor comes from last to capture Valedictory

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Quaesitor flaunted his amazing stamina when he came from last to take the Grade 3, $172,800 Valedictory Stakes, the 1 3/4-mile closing day feature at Woodbine on Sunday.

Quaesitor began to mount a power rally from seventh on the last turn, and then collared odds-on favorite Eagle Poise inside the eighth pole before drawing clear for a three-length score, in 2:59.42. Peyton wound up third in a field reduced to seven with the late scratch of Tricky Hat, who kicked a rail on his way out to the track.

The win gave jockey Gerry Olguin a sweep of the Woodbine’s weekend stakes. He also captured Saturday’s Ontario Lassie on Paladin Bay.

“I sat really patient at the back,” Olguin said. “I know my horse can go forever, so I sat there and just waited for everybody to get tired. At the half-mile pole, the only one who wasn’t riding was Patrick Husbands [on Eagle Poise]. Everybody else was nudging on their horses. I followed Eagle Poise on the last turn, and tried to run him down in the lane. That horse really had no fight, and my horse still had some fight in him.”

Quaesitor returned $11.10 in his first stakes victory, and collected $108,000 for Wayward Stable and trainer Ian Howard.