Woodbine: Urban Forester takes on Ontario-sired winners

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Urban Forester will step up in class off an authoritative maiden win Friday at Woodbine in the only non-claiming race on the card, a six-furlong allowance for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds.

Urban Forester was bet down to nearly 6-1 in his lone 2-year-old outing in September. After running prominently throughout the five-furlong dash, he wound up third, three-quarters of a length behind Calius and future stakes winner Citius.

Urban Forester resurfaced April 10 in another five-furlong maiden special for Ontario-sired stock. He vied for the early lead before taking control on the turn and then drawing off to prevail by 4 1/4 lengths. His time of 57.40 seconds translated into a solid 77 Beyer Speed Figure.

David Clark will ride Urban Forester for Phil England, one of Woodbine’s most patient and successful trainers.

Quintana should be well-backed off a third behind the promising Forestador in his season opener in an April 17 allowance.

Quintana had a fairly busy six-race 2-year-old campaign, during which he contested three stakes. He finished fifth in the Vandal, third in the Bull Page, and 10th in the Frost King, which was won by Citius. One of his better performances was a second to Altius in a six-furlong allowance.

Jim McAleney retains the mount on Quintana, who is trained by Reade Baker.

Wonder Phil is making his first start of the year and might be prepping for a longer engagement.

Wonder Phil was third in both the Vandal and Simcoe Stakes, amongst a remarkable streak of five consecutive third-place finishes that commenced his career. He helped set the pace before fading to fifth in the Coronation Futurity in November and then capped his campaign with a front-running score in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special.

Charlie Bull also is coming off the sidelines. He graduated second time out over six furlongs in August and subsequently ran fifth in the Bull Page and sixth in the Coronation. He never challenged in the Nov. 27 Kingarvie Stakes.

Quarterback also got dusted in his last start in the Kingarvie. His best 2-year-old effort was a lapped-on fourth-place finish in the Frost King, in which he rallied very wide from the back of the tightly bunched pack.

Molinaro Handsome has been a disappointment since the first half of his 2-year-old season, during which he checked in third behind Sensational Slam after setting the pace in the Clarendon Stakes.