Woodbine: Something Extra back quickly, without blinkers, for Wando

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Something Extra will shed the blinkers for the stretch-out to 1 1/16 miles Sunday at Woodbine in the $100,000 Wando Stakes.

Something Extra, owned by trainer Gail Cox and John Menary, graduated second-time out last July, and went on to finish second in an allowance and the seven-furlong Swynford Stakes.

In his first venture around two turns, Something Extra battled for the lead before fading in the stretch in the Grade 3 Grey Stakes in October. He completed his 2-year-old campaign by dead-heating for fourth in an allowance route Nov. 5.

Something Extra wintered at Payson Park in Florida, the training center where Cox always spends the off-season. Following a five-month layoff April 16, Something Extra was a deceptively-good third in the six-furlong Woodstock Stakes, in which he put away another front-runner before weakening on end.

“I thought he ran great,” said Cox. “He’s a laid-back horse, but he’s been fairly sharp since that race. I always hesitate to run them back in two weeks, but it’s a small field and he’s doing very well. There are a couple of allowance races for 3-year-olds coming up in the book, but you always wonder if they’ll fill.”

Cox said Something Extra has a license to handle a route of ground without blinkers.

“As a 2-year-old, I always really thought he would want to go long,” Cox recalled. “The [Nov. 5] race wasn’t a smooth race for him. The early fractions were slow. We’d hoped there would be more pace, and that he would settle off it, but he didn’t really want to settle.”

The Wando drew five other 3-year-olds, most notably Check Your Soul and Silverleo.

Check Your Soul has started twice on the grass for trainer Roger Attfield. After ending up eighth in a March 13 maiden special at Gulfstream, he graduated with a strong rally going 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland.

Silverleo has also done his optimum running on the grass, over which he won his maiden and the allowance prep for the Summer Stakes. He was never in the hunt in the Grade 3 Summer itself last September, and has been idle since finishing a distant third in the Nov. 28 Display Stakes.

Evanderfield is making his second start off the $15,000 claim at Gulfstream.

Top Prospect, who wound up sixth in the Woodstock, and the maiden Whippit were both supplemented at a cost of $2,000.