Woodbine: Welloiledmachine keeps his head in front in Vice Regent

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Welloiledmachine barely held off a charging Celtic Conviction to win his first stakes Sunday at Woodbine in the $125,800 Vice Regent.

Welloiledmachine ($9.90) dueled three-wide for the lead heading into the turn in the race for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds, which was run over about a mile, on a turf course labeled yielding. He opened up a clear lead late on the turn, and maintained it until deep stretch, where Celtic Conviction rallied inside to lose by a head. Valid’s Best finished third, and favored Queen Street Beach was a fading sixth in the 10-horse field. The final time was 1:39.27.

Welloiledmachine came from far back to capture his only other turf race, but jockey Jim McAleney said he wanted to more forwardly-placed in the Vice Regent.

“His last race, he was a little too far out of it,” McAleney said. “We knew that it would probably be a bit of a speed-favoring track. He ran his race, and I just kind of stayed out of the way. It worked out well.”

Welloiledmachine, who is trained by Mike Keogh, banked $75,000 for owners Christine and Dennis Windsor.