Woodbine: Spirited Miss rallies wide to win Duchess Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Spirited Miss closed three wide from midpack to land her first stakes Saturday at Woodbine in the $153,400 Duchess, giving owner John Oxley, trainer Mark Casse, and jockey Patrick Husbands a sweep of the stakes on the card. They also captured the Vandal with the unbeaten 2-year-old Uncaptured.

Spirited Miss ($9.70) scored by 1 3/4 lengths over 20-1 outsider Actionontwo. Katie Get Excited was another neck back in third, a nose in front of a charging Evil Kitten. Favored Man Stuff, normally a front-runner, was rated in fourth after breaking from post 1 and eventually faded to finish eighth in the nine-horse field of 3-year-old fillies.

The final time for the seven furlongs was 1:23.48.

“She’s my favorite horse in the barn from last year,” Husbands said. “I won on her first-time out, but Mark never let me ride her back again, and I was mad at him. I finally got the chance to ride her back this year, and she’s unbelievable. She’s very classy.”