Woodbine: Tom Joy will face easier in allowance race with unusual conditions

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Tom Joy will get some class relief for his second start outside the maiden ranks in the featured eighth on a 10-race card at Woodbine Friday. The seven-furlong turf sprint is an unusual allowance for nonwinners-of-two, which excludes winners of $33,540 in their last two outings.

Tom Joy, trained by Sid Attard for owner/breeder George Bigliardi, was winless in five starts last year, while checking in second three times. He wound up second when he dipped into the maiden-claiming ranks second time out this spring, before defeating $40,000 maidens by nearly five lengths with a 74 Beyer on June 14.

Most recently in a first-level allowance for 3-year-olds, Tom Joy got away slowly before being hard-ridden on the outside for third. He earned an 80 Beyer in the six-furlong dash, the highest number in Friday’s field.

Eurico Da Silva returns after a one-race break to ride Tom Joy, who is a half-brother to a grass winner.

Mr. Chartbuster made quite a splash following a long layoff in his local debut in a $50,000 turf dash July 11. He went right to the front and never looked back to graduate at 41-1 under Jesse Campbell.

Mr. Chartbuster is a half-brother to turf stakes winner Dean’s Kitten. The former Alberta runner is trained by Barb Minshall.

The versatile Riopelle hasn’t run a bad one since the fall. It took him 14 tries to earn his diploma, and he finally turned the trick against $32,000 maidens on the Polytrack June 1. He is coming off a third behind favored Lemon View and next-out winner Straight Line in a $40,000 conditioned claimer on the grass.

Fathom’s End wired $50,000 maidens on a slow pace while traveling seven-eighths on Polytrack June 27. The son of Vindication is out of a turf winner, and he breezed five-eighths over the turf training course in 1:01.20 the other day.

Bathsheba Station is also experimenting on the grass. He ended a streak of three straight hanging seconds with a slow-starting fourth-place finish vs. $40,000 nonwinners-of-three stock July 6.

Bathsheba’s Station is a half-brother to a pair of cheap turf winners, and he breezed an easy half-mile on the turf training course July 20.

No Exchanges was overmatched in the July 2 Achievement Stakes, although he managed to salvage fourth in the six-furlong event on the Polytrack. He is by the good turf sire Exchange Rate, but his dam has not produced a winner on that surface.

I Want You to Know and Takemebaktoartemus are each exiting a maiden-claiming score on the Poly. They both hit the board on the grass last year.