Woodbine weekend stakes roundup: Conquest Tsunami impresses

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – It was just a three-horse field, but Conquest Tsunami made short work of his two rivals in Saturday’s $157,250 Colin Stakes to remain undefeated in three starts as a 2-year-old.

Conquest Tsunami got out to the lead early in the Colin and drew off through the turn to win by 6 3/4 lengths over R U Watchingbud. Conquest Tsunami earned a 77 Beyer Speed Figure and has won his three career races by a combined 20 3/4 lengths.

The Colin originally attracted six entries, but Conquest Tsnuami’s stablemate, Conquest Boogaloo, Calgacus, and Rouge Et Blanc were scratched.

Trainer Mark Casse was impressed by the ease with which Conquest Tsunami pulled away from his rivals Saturday.

“He ran fairly fast for as easy as he did it, so I think there were some real positives out of the race,” he said. “You are always concerned when you have a horse that’s stretching out a little bit at a time, and he proved [Saturday] that three-quarters wasn’t a problem.”

Conquest Tsunami is the first stakes winner out of the stakes-winning mare Classic Neel and has already made more than his $190,000 purchase price at the 2013 Keeneland September yearling sale. With an Ontario-bred bonus, Conquest Tsunami banked $103,500 in the Colin Stakes and has earned $205,931 in his three wins.

Casse said there was a lot to like about Conquest Tsunami at last September’s sale.

“You just have to look at him – he’s a beautiful horse,” he said. “He’s one of the prettier horses we have. I liked his pedigree, and we’re just lucky that we were fortunate enough to buy him.”

Casse said Conquest Tsunami likely will stay north of the border instead of joining his stable at Del Mar in an attempt to get to the Breeders’ Cup. The Grade 2, $200,000 Summer Stakes over a mile on the Woodbine turf Sept. 13 offers a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf to the winner, and Casse and owner Conquest Stables won the Summer Stakes last year with My Conquestadory, who was making her career debut and facing males that day.

“Ultimately, we’re hoping to nominate him to the Breeders’ Cup, so we just have to figure out the best way to get there,” he said. “There’s a chance we could go to the Summer Stakes. If he wasn’t [a Canadian-bred], I would have sent him to Del Mar after his maiden win at Keeneland, but I sent him to Woodbine because he’s a Canadian-bred.”

La Tia makes herself at home

La Tia returned to Woodbine in style Saturday, as the Arlington shipper set a moderate pace en route to a 96 Beyer and a 6 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3, $155,800 Ontario Matron Stakes.

Trainer Armando De la Cerda had been pointing La Tia toward the Ontario Matron for some time and thought the uncontested early fractions were perfect for his mare.

“When she gets a pace like this one, she can go all day,” he said. “As soon as I saw 24 [seconds] and 48 with nobody pressing her, I knew the race [was over].”

La Tia came into the Ontario Matron off a defeat as the heavy favorite in the Lincoln Heritage Handicap at Arlington on June 21, but De la Cerda said a weather delay right before that race put La Tia off her game.

“There was a tornado warning, and it rained a lot, so there was an hour delay,” he said. “Everybody was mad, and the jockeys didn’t want to come out. She’s very hyper, so after 30 minutes, it was completely over [for her].”

De la Cerda anticipated that La Tia would return to Woodbine at some point this season. La Tia won the La Lorgnette Stakes as a 3-year-old in 2012 and ran in the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes here last season. La Tia could see action Aug. 16 in the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington and return for the Canadian on Sept. 14 or another race on Polytrack.

Ageless equals track record

American invader Ageless reeled in pacesetter Goldstryke Glory in the final sixteenth of a mile to win her third stakes race in a row in Sunday’s Grade 3, $153,700 Royal North Stakes.

Ageless crossed the line in 1:07.39, equaling the six-furlong turf track record set by Starticus in 2008. Ageless earned a 92 Beyer.

Sky Treasure, who was supplemented to the race by Casse, was second, while Goldstryke Glory hung on for third after setting a quick early pace.